


Dragon Age: A Wizard's Origins

by zugrian



Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Origins, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Adventure, Adventure & Romance, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blood Magic, F/M, Fantasy, Flashbacks, Mages (Dragon Age), Magic-Users, Master of Death Harry Potter, Past Relationship(s), Slow Burn, Some Humor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:28:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 42,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27816088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zugrian/pseuds/zugrian
Summary: All of the Grey Wardens lie dead at Ostagar alongside the king. Fereldan is in turmoil, and the only hope to stop the Blight is a stranger from another world. Harry Potter thought that he had escaped a world full of war and destruction, but it seems his task may never be complete. He may not be the hero Fereldan needs, but he's the only chance they've got left.
Relationships: harry potter/morrigan
Comments: 4
Kudos: 38





	1. Stranger in a Strange Land

**Disclaimer** : I own neither Harry Potter nor Dragon Age, see J K Rowling and Bioware for the original works.

* * *

Flemeth was a very old woman. Little surprised her anymore, but every now and then, something truly wondrous came along and drew her attention. At the time, she had been living deep in the Korcari Wilds with her most recent daughter, a snarky little thing named Morrigan. She'd done her best to prepare the girl for the true nature of the real world and the people that lived in it- the mental strength it took to deal with the self-absorbed cruelty common to men and women spread across all of history. When it came down to it, people only cared about themselves. The things around them only mattered in the effects they had on whatever happened in their own little insignificant lives.

Oh true, there were the few occasional idealists who claimed that things like ethics mattered. Delusional little twits. Reality constantly proved them wrong. Some would call her a cynic, but she had learned her lessons long ago.

Cynicism is just what the foolish call realism because they are afraid.

And fear had long driven the actions of people, but even Flemeth knew that there were some fears worth acknowledging. For example, there was a Blight coming, much sooner than most realized, and no one in Fereldan was in any way prepared for the chaos and destruction that would follow in its wake. She'd taken a few steps that could likely help things along, but who knew if her schemes would come to reality.

All of that was set aside one day when she led her daughter back to the broken Eluvian in a dense wooded area to the east of her home. In truth, it was one of the reasons she had chosen that place to live. A reminder of days long past, although she had set aside any foolish notion that those days had somehow been better. Different perhaps, but not in any significant or meaningful way better.

In another life, an old friend had done his best to make things just that- _better_ , and look how that nightmare had turned out.

What was left behind were mere remnants like that broken mirror, a few fragments of ancient glass still hanging from the top of its pointed arch like tears trying to fall.

But something had caused a tremor in the magic around it, as if the Fade itself had been ripped open. Flemeth knew more about the veil than almost anyone alive, but even she could not explain the feeling she had sensed. It was as if the Eluvian had somehow come back to life, but the only trace that she could discern on it was the same old faded hint of magic that had been lingering there since she had first come across it- which was what, three hundred years or so ago?

The surrounding area had held little clues, although Morrigan had found a set of what appeared to be dog tracks nearby. The girl was perceptive, but neither of them thought that even a mabari could have any way of triggering ancient Elven magic.

That had been a month prior- and now, it was happening again.

She had left behind a spell to warn her if anything out of the ordinary was happening, and when she felt something trip that ward, Flemeth grabbed Morrigan and they both shape shifted into birds in order to fly there as quickly as possible.

They reached the Eluvian soon, but instead of the shimmer of light that she had seen so long ago, this time she caught only the merest glimpse of darkness, a shadow that retreated from her eye as she turned to study it closer.

And on the far side of the broken mirror was a young man lying in the grass.

She judged him to be no more than thirty at most, likely a few years younger than that. His clothes were very finely made, but of an unusual style. He had black hair and the most vivid green eyes, wide open and staring up at the sky. Any hopes of questioning him ended as those eyes fluttered and closed though, the boy dragged down into a deep slumber.

"'Tis an interesting scar upon him," Morrigan said as they began to examine the young man. "One would wonder whether it was carved intentionally to be shaped so like a bolt of lightning."

"I have heard of stranger things," Flemeth answered. "There was a tribe that carved what looked like runes of frost into their skin in hopes of becoming immune to the cold of their homeland."

"Did it work?"

"Of course not," she chuckled. "But it did make them look all the more intimidating to those they called lowlanders, so in a way, it gave them a blessing regardless."

"Hmm," Morrigan pondered for a moment. "What shall we do with him? I assume you shall be wanting to question him when he awakes."

"Indeed." Flemeth studied the lad for a moment. There was much she could do while he was still asleep, but she would not reveal all of her skills while the girl was watching. Something was definitely odd about him. "Let us take him back to our home. We shall see what he has to say then."

"What of the Grey Wardens?"

"They will have to wait. There is a magic in this boy that feels unlike any I have ever seen before."

Providence caused her to be looking back at the Eluvian once more, and despite the lack of any breeze, one of the shards of hanging glass trembled and fell from the arch. Flemeth walked over to it and picked it up. Instead of the reflective surface, she saw a glimpse of a dark land, blackened as if by fire, and the ruins of some sort of city. Before she could show it to her daughter, the image faded. Yet another curiosity.

"Mother?"

"We have tarried here long enough," Flemeth said as she tucked the broken shard into a pocket. "Let us away."

* * *

Harry Potter knew that he was dreaming, but that didn't make the sensations feel any less real. Not that it was the type of dream that most people had- although he had plenty of those- this dream was a memory of long ago. The older he got, the more they seemed to slide into his nightly rest, perhaps trying to remind him of the better times he'd once had.

"Harry, are you alright?"

Her dark eyes sparkled with warmth and concern, and for just a moment, he let himself bathe in it. Her hair was so long and straight, and if he could do it all over again, he would have taken her to a broom closet and lost himself in her.

Parvati. Her name swam back into his mind.

"Yeah," he said, trying not to flinch, just as he had once upon a time.

"Your arm- why is it doing that?" she asked, one hand reaching out and cautiously touching him. He felt a tremor go down his left side again.

"It's just residue of the Cruciatus," he replied.

"Then the stories are true?" she gasped.

"I don't keep up with all the gossip around here. What are they saying?"

"That you-know-who captured and tortured you during the third task," she said in a whisper, sitting down on the couch next to him. The Gryffindor common room was as loud and boisterous as ever, most of the teenagers there not worrying over a miserable summer or Dark Lords that were out for their blood.

In his case, that had been literally true.

However, the noise gave Parvati an excuse to scoot that much closer to Harry's side, and he could smell her. It wasn't as strong as most perfumes he'd ever experienced, so he imagined it must have been from her shampoo, and that little hint of jasmine made the dreamer chuckle at what a fool he'd been. No girl gets that close to you if she isn't interested.

Idiot.

In his defense, at the time Harry had been more than a little distracted, not to mention his complete lack of decent role models or adults who would actually teach him something important like how to interact with girls.

"Yeah, that's true," the younger Harry said, his memory reasserting its focus.

"Then he really is back," Parvati said with a shudder. "I wonder if the headmaster will say anything at the leaving feast tonight."

"Probably."

"I'm sorry, Harry." At his look of confusion, Parvati elaborated. "For what happened to you the other night. No one deserves to be tortured, least of all you."

"Thanks," he mumbled. The poor little guy started to blush and dreamer Harry chuckled to himself. "I'm sorry too. I mean- for the Yule Ball. I realize I wasn't a very good date that night. Sorry."

"I guess I can forgive you," Parvati teased. "If anyone should apologize though, it's Ron. He was such a bastard to my sister that night. Padma hates his guts."

"Yeah, well, I don't think Ron will ever do that," Harry sighed. "I guess you can apologize to her for me. She only went with him because I asked you about it. But I honestly didn't think he would be such an arse."

"This is Ron we're talking about," Parvati giggled.

"True."

"It's too bad really," she sighed. "I was kind of hoping that life could get back to normal next year."

"I don't know if you've noticed, but my life has never been normal. Between teachers trying to kill me, basilisks trying to kill me, dementors trying to kill me, dragons trying to kill me-"

The dreamer Harry smiled in fondness at what a sarcastic little shit he used to be.

"... well, I've kind of gotten used to it by now."

"I see what you mean," Parvati said and then paused for a second before starting to grin. "You know, there is one thing you could do if you really wanted to make up for the Yule Ball with me."

"Oh, um, what?"

"A girl at her first ball expects to be escorted back on the arm of her date, you know? And the night was supposed to end with a goodnight kiss."

"Re-really?" he stuttered, certainly starting to blush as well.

"Definitely," Parvati smirked and leaned a bit closer. "Do you think you can handle that, Harry?"

"I..."

She didn't wait any longer for him, leaning in slowly, licking her lips and closing her eyes.

Harry remembered it being surprisingly nice, but the man who was dreaming could see how he had nearly botched the whole thing. Still, it could have been worse, and at least she didn't end up crying afterwards.

Or god forbid, _during_.

Thankfully, his technique had improved immeasurably in the many years since.

But for one last moment, the dreamer closed his eyes as well, drinking in that fading hint of jasmine and almost swearing that he could feel her lips pressed against his own once again.

He wondered if things could have been different, if maybe something more could have ever been, but only a year after that, she was gone from his life.

Yet somehow, all these years later, he could still taste her.

* * *

Harry felt better than he imagined he would as he woke. The bed was rather firm, but all things considered, he was most surprised that there even was a bed. And after some of the recent years, he wouldn't complain about much of anything as it was definitely better than many of the places where he'd spent the night.

"Awake finally, are you? Mother will be so pleased."

He looked up into golden eyes. The young woman looking down at him was rather beautiful, pale skin and lovely cleavage nicely on display, and yet despite her aloof tone, there was an excitement in her eyes that gave her away.

"Good morning," he said, sitting up and rolling his neck around. It gave a satisfying couple of pops.

"'Tis late in the afternoon, to be truthful. I am surprised that you have awoken so soon."

"I haven't been here long then?"

"We found you near the Eluvian only a few hours ago."

"It was a nice nap." Harry looked around the place he now found himself. It was a little rustic, but the wooden walls were at least fairly clean and not falling apart. "What was that you said? An Eluvian?"

"The Eluvians are mirrors that were used by the ancient elves to travel great distances in but a moment. Their loss 'tis one of the great tragedies from the fall of Arlathan."

"Well, I'm definitely not in Kansas anymore," Harry chuckled. He noticed that he was mostly undressed.

"I have not heard of this Kansas, I must confess."

"I'm not surprised." Harry sighed and looked closer at her. "What have you done with my things?"

"They are in that chest."

"Not going to rob me then?"

"I didn't see much worth robbing, if my mother would have allowed it. But she seems to think you are more than you seem, and I have to admit that there is something strange about you that bothers me."

"I've had much worse first impressions," Harry replied.

"May I ask you something?"

"Sure," he shrugged.

"Who or what is this Parvati of which you speak?"

"I was talking in my sleep again?" Harry wondered. He hadn't done that in a long time, as far as he knew. "Just a girl I knew a long time ago."

"Ah, sentimentality. What drivel."

Harry glanced at her scornful expression and couldn't help but laugh.

"What strikes you as funny?"

"You just reminded me of someone for a moment."

"Who?"

"A woman who saved my life once," he replied. "Although, to be fair, I returned the favor before we parted on very bad terms."

"She sounds like a wise woman."

Harry grinned in spite of her acidic tone. "She would have liked to think so, but she had also been pressed into an arranged marriage and I doubt much of anything ever brought her joy. In the end, I rather pitied her." He watched the girl frowning at him for a second. "I don't believe we've been introduced properly. You can call me Harry."

"Harry? Hmm, 'tis not the name I would have guessed for you." She looked him over and pondered for a moment. "I am Morrigan."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Interesting. Where I come from that was the name of a goddess."

"I remind you of a goddess, do I?" she chuckled.

"She was said to fly over fields of battle in the form of a crow, often foretelling death. Although sometimes she was an omen of victory as well, but then many may die while their forces emerge ultimately victorious. It is very rare that a battle is ever won without some casualties on both sides."

"Death in war is inevitable," she agreed with a small nod.

"True." He stood up and noticed how her eyes watched him. It wasn't truly ogling, although he thought there was a hint of that, but more curiosity than anything else. Harry didn't particularly care, she was welcome to look. "Where am I, by the way?"

"The region is known as the Korcari Wilds."

"Never heard of it, but that's no surprise." Harry shrugged as he opened the chest and saw his clothes, as well as his wand lying right on top. He was very glad they hadn't taken that. Pulling out his clothes, he began to get dressed, subtly checking everything as he went.

"'Tis in the country known as Fereldan," she added.

"I doubt he knows that name either." A much older woman entered the room, with long grey hair and similar golden eyes. Harry wondered if that was common in this strange land. "You have come from far away, haven't you?"

"That is a fair assumption, yes." He pulled on his shirt and then, most importantly, his mokeskin pouch. Harry briefly remembered Hagrid, who had given him two of the best presents he'd ever received, although that also brought back the bittersweet memory of Hedwig. She had been gone for so very long now, lost in a practically ancient war, and he had never been able to bring himself to get another pet in all the time since.

"Harry, this is my mother, Flemeth."

"Greetings," he said with a smile. There was no need not to be polite; hopefully, he might even be able to escape this encounter without engaging in too much hostility.

"To you as well, young man."

Harry chuckled at that.

"What's so funny?"

"No one has called me that in more years than I can count," he replied. At Morrigan's raised eyebrows, Harry decided to elaborate. "I'm older than I look."

"Yes, I can tell," Flemeth said. "But, I'll let you in on a little secret- so am I."

"How is that a secret?" Morrigan asked with scorn. "You encourage all the rumors of your immortality as well as your legends."

"Oh, I'm in the presence of a living legend then?" Harry grinned at that. "Cool. It's been a long time since I've been able to spend time with someone like that."

"Our time may be short, unfortunately," Flemeth responded. "You have chosen a poor time to come to this land of ours."

"That doesn't surprise me, but then again, if I had a choice, I probably wouldn't be here at all."

"Truly?" Morrigan wondered. "Where was your destination then? And more importantly, how did one such as you get so very lost?"

"That's a very long story," Harry replied. Both of them were even more curious about him than he had expected. He was dressed now though, and while neither woman had attacked him yet, Harry did not believe in waiting for the other shoe to drop. He grabbed his wand and quickly froze them both in place with two waves. Petrificus Totalis was one of the best spells to learn silently as the incantation was far too long to be very good as a surprise attack.

He hit the older woman first of course- she was obviously much more dangerous. His senses for that sort of thing had been sharpened and reinforced numerous times.

"Pardon me for this, but I've merely suffered too many ambushes and assassination attempts over the years," he said as he looked them both over. Morrigan's eyes looked both furious and possibly a bit frightened. Flemeth though- he saw delight in her gaze.

Coupled with that, he also sensed a great power within her. It was enough to drive his curiosity to do something that he might not have otherwise.

" _Legilimens!_ "

And immediately, he knew it was a mistake. He didn't hit a wall- there was a decent chance that Occlumency didn't exist here- but Harry did find something far beyond what he expected. The old woman definitely wasn't kidding when she admitted to being older than she looked, not to mention clearly no longer exactly human. But there was also something in her that he hadn't expected to ever come across again.

Flemeth was carrying part of another soul.

Harry sighed to himself. Wherever he was now, he hadn't been able to escape horcruxes. After all the shit he'd had to go through with that crazy bastard Riddle, that wasn't something he was looking forward to dealing with ever again; but he knew he would have to, one way or another. That was the sort of thing that always got dropped on his plate.

All told, he pulled back from the massive ancient thing that dwelled inside the form of this old woman and winced at the migraine he could already feel starting to build.

What made it even worse was that he hadn't gotten any information that he needed, which meant he was going to have to try her daughter.

Harry turned and gave her a sad little smile before once again raising his wand.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry. _Legilimens!_ "

This time he struck gold. Morrigan's mind was much more forthcoming, likely in part due to her own curiosity about him. He even saw how she had undressed him to check for wounds while he was unconscious- and somehow he knew that she would deny any embarrassment over her actions.

He looked even further and saw so much flash by that he knew he was going to need a lot of time for his own mind to be able to process it all. Most importantly though, he saw how they had found him near this enormous broken mirror, and how they were now setting aside other plans they had for some group known as the Grey Wardens in order to discover everything they could about him. Somehow Flemeth had been able to tell that he was magical and yet very different from the sorts of mages that existed in this world.

That was going to be interesting.

Morrigan at least was no threat to him, and she honestly believed that Flemeth wasn't either- although likely to try to manipulate him for all he was worth. But from her experiences, that was just how her mother behaved towards everyone.

Harry ended the spell and rubbed at his temples with his free hand. He'd become pretty adept with mind magics, but the drawback was always painful.

"Fuck," he muttered. Harry sat back down on the bed and held his head in his hands. He was never going to get a nice peaceful retirement- he'd arrived at a little cabin in the wilderness only to find it surrounded by monsters and apparently a coming catastrophe. Waving his wand a couple of times, the two witches were released from his earlier spell holding them in place.

"Interesting use of magic," Flemeth said. "That was not a spell I recognized- how delightful!"

Her laughter was not what Morrigan expected. "Are we not to worry about him further attacking us?"

"Does that look like a man who is intent on such a purpose?"

"I suppose not."

"I'm too tired to care," Harry admitted.

"Perhaps you needed a longer nap," Morrigan suggested as she glared at him.

"Would you like to strip me down again?" he asked with a smirk.

"Why don't we continue our discussion over dinner," Flemeth said. "I've made a stew, if you're hungry."

"I suppose I could eat."

"Wonderful." She led them out to a larger room, a table set with three bowls and spoons around a large pot. "You'll have to tell me what you think of my cooking."

"As long as it isn't poisonous, I'll try not to judge," Harry shrugged. "Even then, it wouldn't matter that much."

"Not afraid of poisoning?"

"I've had it happen too many times to count."

"It sounds like you've led an interesting life," Morrigan interrupted. "Mayhaps you could tell us about it, stranger."

"I might as well. What would you like to know?"

"You are a mage, but unlike those who are leashed by the Chantry."

"Chantry?"

"The dominant religion of most of Thedas," Flemeth explained as Harry took his first taste of the stew.

"Hmm." He thought for a moment. "Magic and religion didn't get along very well in my world either."

"You're from another world?" Morrigan gaped.

"I surmised as much," Flemeth said with a smirk.

"That's why you're so interested in him," Morrigan accused.

"Of course! Aren't you?"

"I..."

"Let us not get away from the topic," Flemeth interrupted. "Go on, Harry."

"Well, where I came from the magical world had separated itself from everyone else as much as possible. They had all sorts of spells to keep normal people from finding out about magic. Some people still lived among the muggles- that's what we called people without magic- and we interacted with them to varying amounts. But eventually the truth was exposed, in a rather stupid way actually, and that led to a nightmare. Governments wanted to use magic to further their own agendas. Militaries wanted to know if we could kill in better ways- and while not saying so out loud, they also wanted to know how to kill us. Religious groups either looked at magic as proof that the world was coming to an end, or that we were all devil worshipers, or that we could be used by them to prove that their version of God was the correct one. It was all a mess, and it just got worse over the years.

"I did my best to keep my family safe and out of the conflict for as long as I could. I'd already gotten credit for saving the world from a Dark Lord- twice- and I didn't want to have to try to force countless idiots to stop being idiots or else. I probably should have though- I doubt things could have ended up any worse off. Daphne, my second wife, used to say that the world needed someone like me to rule over them to keep people in line. I always argued that she would have been better as Empress of the world because I hated that sort of thing. Gabrielle would have been happy either way because she could have then been a princess," Harry smiled fondly. "According to her, it was much better to be a princess than a queen. Queens had to rule and do important, boring things. Princesses got to be pretty and admired by everyone without any of the responsibility. Smart girl."

Harry's chuckles were cut off by Morrigan. "How did things become such a nightmare in your world?"

"How else? War," he replied with a sigh. "Everyone wants power. Things just got worse and worse, and by the time I left... well, nothing much mattered to me anymore."

"How did you get here?" Flemeth asked.

"There was a magical place that held a portal to... somewhere else. It was believed to lead to the afterlife, or the land of the dead, or something like that. But going through it was a one way trip for anyone or anything as far as all the researchers could tell. One day, I decided to find out the truth."

"And it led you here," Flemeth finished. "While it may seem unlikely, I suppose it does have the ring of truth to it. The Eluvians once were used for crossing vast distances, although how a broken one may have guided you here from another world is a fascinating question. I may have to examine the area much further."

"What were you hoping to find?" Morrigan asked. "When you stepped through that portal in your world, I mean. Perhaps there is more we can learn from where you hoped to go that may help unravel the mystery of how you got here."

"I was sort of hoping for one of two things," Harry admitted before sighing. "On the one hand, if it had led to an afterlife, some sort of land of the dead where I could have been reunited with all those I lost, that would have been a relief."

"Very few people would refer to death as a relief," Morrigan scoffed.

"Then they haven't lived long enough to grow weary of life," Harry countered.

"'Tis a supposed wisdom usually only found in the old and infirm," Flemeth added. "Those who have had enough of the pain of living and look forward to a long rest."

Harry nodded. "In my world, a common saying for the deceased was the phrase 'rest in peace.' To lay down the burdens from life and to drift off into an eternal sleep."

"Indeed," Flemeth replied. "I have heard it described as such, although I personally do not agree."

"Why would you be so foolish as to wish for such a thing? You are clearly a powerful mage- there must have been some other path still available to you, even in a world at war," Morrigan insisted. Harry saw the fervor of her words reflected in her eyes, and he smiled briefly at seeing such passion. It was the sort of thing that reminded him of his youth, possibly innocence (or naivete) as well, and for him, all of those things had been lost so long ago.

"Everyone I had ever known and loved was dead," he answered calmly, ignoring the twinge his words brought, trying to pull up a thousand memories. "There was nothing left for me in that world, and the idea of trying to save it no longer appealed to me, assuming that was still somehow possible. If I could have been reunited with my family, and I had very strong evidence that it would have been so, then I welcomed death. Instead I ended up here."

He set down his spoon, no longer feeling very hungry. That was a shame, as the stew was pretty good.

"Perhaps you have been brought here for a reason," Flemeth suggested. "This world is on the precipice of change, and you may have a role to play in it."

"I've never been a fan of destiny," he sighed. "But that doesn't mean that I can necessarily escape the concept either."

"Many have tried," Flemeth said. "And many have failed."

"Indeed."

Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He should probably try to force himself to eat more. He'd long been acquainted with hunger, and it was not a relationship he wanted to encourage any further. Harry took another bite and tried to relax.

"What was the second thing you were hoping for?" Morrigan asked.

Her question brought his mind back to that damn veil and the first great loss he'd known. "When I was young, there was a battle that I was in where I lost someone. He was knocked through that portal I mentioned, and everyone believed that meant that he had died. There was no body left behind, and no way of knowing for sure without following him through, but it was supposed to be a one way trip. I was hopeful that if it did lead somewhere, that maybe I would have been able to find him."

"We found no one else but you," Flemeth answered. "However, it seems that you came along many years after this other man, yes? It may be that he has come and gone since then."

"True," Harry said. As he took another bite, Morrigan's eyes flickered between him and her mother, but she held her tongue. Harry wondered at what she may have been thinking. Perhaps if he could get her alone, she might be more forthcoming.

Of course, she also might be more quick to hex him.

There was a distant rumbling and he thought he heard the sound of horns blowing.

"What is that?"

"Blast it!" Flemeth growled as she got up from the table, hurrying to a door. As Morrigan got up to follow her mother, Harry decided to do the same.

Night had fallen and there was a large full moon, but Harry realized that it was definitely not the moon he would have recognized. It was far too large in the sky compared to what he remembered. To the south, he also saw a tower lit up as if on fire. Perhaps a beacon of some sort- he remembered seeing that in a movie once as a young man.

"I may be too late," Flemeth muttered angrily. She turned to her daughter. "Stay here with our guest while I go to check on the battle. We may have a problem."

"What battle?" Harry asked.

"The girl can explain that to you while you wait," Flemeth replied. "I recommend doing so inside. There are protections around my home that dissuade travelers from coming near, but better safe than sorry."

"Alright," Harry shrugged. He started to go back inside as he saw a couple of furtive glances pass back and forth between the two witches. He wondered what they might be hiding from him.

Morrigan shut the door behind her once they were back inside. Harry smirked at her and asked, "So, do you really want to stay here, or would you prefer to see what is going on?"

"Twould be for the best for us to remain out of my mother's way," she answered with a scowl. "She can be most vexing when things do not go her way."

"Ah, don't let that stop us," Harry chuckled. He reached down to his pouch and pulled it over his head. "Want to see a neat trick?"

She merely raised an eyebrow in response, but he wasn't going to let that spoil his fun. He had a feeling Morrigan was used to keeping her emotions hidden behind a mask of contempt, and that reminded him of...

'Nevermind,' he shook away his thoughts. Far too much reminiscing already.

Instead, he opened the mokeskin wide and reached inside, briefly smirking as Morrigan's eyes went wide as his arm went far too deep for the outer appearance of the pouch. Grabbing onto something he hadn't used in awhile, Harry slowly pulled a broomstick out.

"An enchantment for greater storage?" she asked. "That is definitely a type of magic that I would like to learn. However, I do not see why you might want to sweep. Is our cottage not tidy enough for you?"

Harry grinned. There was something about this woman that really made him want to get under her skin. "I thought we might go out for a little trip."

Morrigan looked hesitant for a moment, her eyes flashing back to the door before she nodded. "If she asks, I will merely say that I could not convince you otherwise and thus decided to go with you to try to keep you out of trouble."

"Many people have tried that over the years," Harry chuckled.

"Still, this does not explain the purpose of the broom."

"What, you've never heard of a witch or wizard riding a broom to fly? This world is missing out."

Harry was still smiling as he headed for the door, knowing without a glance back that Morrigan's curiosity was piqued.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note / Mission Statement:
> 
> This story is a tale of Harry Potter traversing through the Dragon Age universe. From what I've seen, it's a crossover that hasn't really been done to any great extent.
> 
> As I've already hinted, some things about Harry's life happened the same as in canon- he was captured, tortured, and nearly killed at the end of the Triwizard Tournament- but some things went differently, such as his first kiss being with Parvati here.
> 
> For those curious about what happened to her- the Patil family fled after Voldemort was revealed and the war started to heat up. They had considered such a thing in canon- mentioned in chapter eleven of Half Blood Prince- and they did so in this story, moving back to India, hence why Harry never saw her again.
> 
> With that said, one of the things I will be doing here is revealing more and more of Harry's life and what led him to ending up in Thedas slowly over the course of the story. I generally dislike huge exposition dumps and I think this will be an interesting way to write, which makes it more exciting for me.
> 
> As for Dragon Age, fans can probably guess where this begins- and yes, there are going to be some big changes compared to the game series. Hope everyone enjoys!


	2. A Terrible Plan

* * *

"Well, now what?" Morrigan asked as she followed Harry outside. The man was interesting, although his mood seemed to vary greatly from moment to moment, but there was something about him that was so... vexing.

As if she didn't get enough of that from living with her mother.

"Now, I use a nifty little charm to make you disappear," he answered as he waved his stick around her before tapping her on the head. A cool sensation drifted down all over her body, and while she wouldn't want to admit it out loud, the way Harry's magic felt to her was quite pleasing. She raised a hand and only saw a shimmering outline, a blurred form.

"Fascinating."

"This should help us stay out of sight, so as not to bother Flemeth," he continued. He raised his left hand and the broom seemed to float in midair. This time she could not sense any magic that had caused it to do so and when she turned back to his face, Harry seemed happier than he had previously been. He mounted the broom with his legs straddling it, the bristles at the rear and then he turned to look at roughly where she stood. Morrigan wished she had moved.

"Are you not going to conceal yourself as well?" she asked.

"In a moment," he replied. "It wouldn't do to leave you unable to see where I was though. Give me just a second and then climb on behind me."

"This seems rather foolish," Morrigan huffed. Harry just smiled and then seemed to disappear. She could still see where the broom was, but the man upon it was no longer in sight- and she noticed too that whatever magic he had used did not leave behind the same shimmer that was upon her.

"Climb on behind me now," he said.

Despite her reluctance, Morrigan stepped closer. The broom floated a few inches lower, and she swung her right leg over it and then sat down. It raised up and she felt his left hand reach back and pull on her arm. "You'll need to scoot up and hold onto me."

"Of course I will," Morrigan snorted. "Was this all some scheme to get me to embrace you?"

"I could probably come up with a better scheme for that," Harry chuckled.

She felt his laughter as she had done as he asked and she was now leaning against his back. The feeling was far too nice, and even worse was his scent. Most of the men (and women too, for that matter) she had ever smelled were quite repellent. Did none of them know how to bathe properly?

Harry, on the other hand, smelled delicious, and yes, it was maddening!

"Whatever you do, don't let go."

In the future, she would refuse to admit that she may have screamed as the broom blasted off into the air, soaring high into the night sky much faster than she had ever flown in the shape of a bird.

And if Harry ever tried to argue with her, she would cast every nasty spell she knew at him.

* * *

Damn, he had really missed flying. There really was nothing like that sensation of rocketing through the air at a ridiculous speed that would have made his first wife vomit. And she had too- when he had once turned a 'romantic little flight' into showing off. The date ended badly as they had to clean themselves up, and for some reason, she didn't want to do so together in the prefects' bathroom.

Oh well.

After that first scream of alarm, Morrigan had settled right down and seemed to be enjoying herself as they sped through the sky. Harry could now see the tower they were heading for and he had to slow way down because of what else he saw.

A dragon.

He hadn't seen one of those in years. As far as he had been aware, they had been extinct on Earth for at least a decade. It was too bad really, as they were truly magnificent beasts.

Harry forced the broom to stop and merely hover in the air. He turned over his left shoulder to where he could feel Morrigan watching. "Is that...?"

"My mother," she gasped. "Truly, I was not sure if she could manage such a transformation, but seeing is believing. We should leave before she senses us."

"Why are you so afraid of her?"

"Why are you not?"

The dragon let out an angry roar as it reached the top of the tower and shrunk down to a humanoid shape as it landed. If Morrigan hadn't already confirmed it, Harry now knew that Flemeth definitely was even more than she had let on.

"We should leave," she whispered.

"Let's check out the rest of the area before we go," Harry suggested.

"If you must, but be careful."

The next couple of minutes of flying nearly turned his stomach. Lying below the tower was a battlefield where a slaughter had occurred- and where the carnage was still going on despite the fight being over. Ferocious-looking humanoid monsters were feasting on the dead humans.

"Darkspawn," Morrigan had whispered, giving name to the vile things. Harry reached out with his magic and he could sense a form of tainted energy running through them all. It reminded him of some of the worst of the Dark Arts he had ever come up against. Almost like the Inferi, or zombies as most of the world would have called them. The eating of flesh was all too similar as well.

These things though weren't undead, but there was definitely something very wrong with them.

Harry had seen enough, so they flew back towards Morrigan's home. She guided them for the last part of the journey as he still wasn't familiar with the area.

When they landed, Harry started by undoing the Disillusionment Charm on Morrigan and explaining it to her as he put up his broom and tried to calm his mind. She was very eager to learn about his magic, and that was a nice distraction to help him not have to focus on the disgusting sight they had left behind.

"You will need to clear your head before Flemeth returns," Morrigan suggested.

Harry nodded. "Give me a minute to sit down and I'll be fine."

She kept an eye on him, but as they went back into the cottage, Harry returned to the dining table and tried to get comfortable for a moment before he closed his eyes. He ran through the exercises Daphne had taught him long ago, and he smiled at the thought of her. If he had only known her years before, that first war might have turned out much better.

His emotions now calmed, he let himself relax. His mind quickly started to point out a few things that he might not have wanted to admit to himself, but the way Morrigan tried to mask her feelings was just too familiar for him not to see it.

The physical differences were great- Daphne had been tall and blonde while Morrigan was of average height with raven black hair- but the way she held herself was much like the way his second great love had acted in public, and especially around those she looked down on.

It was definitely one of the things about Morrigan that drew his interest. Her lovely pale cleavage wasn't too bad either.

He opened his eyes and saw she was once again watching him.

"That wasn't quite as much fun as I had hoped it would be," Harry admitted. "Enlightening though."

"Indeed. Mother was correct about the coming Blight, and it does appear that things are looking dire. Fereldan's King Cailan was at that battle, and if he has already fallen, then the country may be doomed. 'Tis not the sort of thing that might bother me, but we do currently reside within its borders. And the previous Blights have never remained within one country's borders before."

"You'll have to tell me more about them soon," Harry suggested.

"I had anticipated so," Morrigan replied.

Their conversation was cut off as another roar came from outside.

"I don't think Flemeth is in a good mood."

"I'm not sure if Mother has ever been in a good mood," Morrigan countered, making Harry laugh.

"Reminds me of an old teacher of mine," he said. "Although, I'm not sure if he truly counts as a teacher since he never really taught anything. I guess it did drive home the lesson about not trusting authority figures."

"Trust is a liability," Morrigan replied.

"That sounds like something your mother would say."

"And she would be right."

Harry shook his head sadly. This witch desperately needed to get away from such a terrible mentor.

"Finding someone you can trust can be a wonderful thing," he answered. "Having someone you can depend on is one of the greatest feelings in life. Especially if you find yourself in a war. I wouldn't have survived if I hadn't had the people that stood beside me."

"Even allies in battle can become compromised," Morrigan said.

"That is possible," he admitted. "But living constantly in paranoia is unhealthy, and believe me, that is something I know all too well." Harry looked around the cottage and turned back to the pot of stew. "I think that's one of the things I am going to enjoy the most about coming here."

"There is a massive tide of darkspawn ready to swarm over all the land and kill any who stand in their way." Morrigan looked at him if he were insane. She might have had a point too. "You cannot be so foolish as to think this is something to _enjoy_."

She looked almost ready to throw something at him.

"I can understand why that is troubling, but at least these monsters aren't specifically trying to kill _me_. I've had a lot of that sort of thing." Harry waved his wand over the stew to reheat it. He wanted to enjoy the food while he could, so he scooped out another serving into the bowl he had been eating from earlier. "Would you like some more?"

"What magic did you just cast?" Morrigan asked as she sat down across from him and handed over her bowl.

"A warming charm," he answered. Harry considered getting back in the habit of speaking his incantations aloud just to teach her in the future. Of course, getting a wand might be the first task for her as he had noticed that neither witch he had met seemed to use one. "Heating up the food is a fairly simple thing to learn where I come from. Useful too."

"Might you be inclined to teach me some of this magic?"

Harry gave her a brief smile and took a bite. "I think I will, although I would hope you would teach me about the magic from this world as well."

"I believe we have a bargain," she replied.

"Excellent."

They quietly ate for a few minutes until Flemeth returned, slamming the door open wide.

"We have a problem," she said as she looked at her daughter. "The Grey Wardens are dead."

"All of them?" Morrigan asked.

"It appears so."

"That... is a problem," Morrigan gulped. "What will we do then?"

"Who are these Grey Wardens?" Harry asked.

"They are an order who strive to fight off the darkspawn," Flemeth explained. "When a Blight comes, they are the only ones who can stem the tide."

"Why? You have mages here, and warriors I would assume. What makes these Grey Wardens so special?"

Mother and daughter looked back and forth for a moment before Flemeth decided to answer him. "Two things. First of all, Grey Wardens are the only ones who can permanently kill the Archdemons. Every Blight is caused by one of them awakening- the darkspawn armies follow them as they lay waste to all that stand in their way.

"Secondly, the Grey Wardens have treaties that make other groups follow them into battle when a Blight arrives." Flemeth walked over to a chest and raised it with a wave of her hand, floating it over to the table. "There were copies of these treaties long thought lost in the wilds near here. I have kept them safe for many years, but without Grey Wardens to utilize them..."

"Hmm." Harry thought to himself for a moment. "May I look at them?"

"Be my guest," Flemeth replied. The chest opened and Harry was surprised to see that they were written in English- although he also had been speaking English this entire time, despite the whole 'travel to another world' thing. He put that thought aside and skimmed through the parchment. It was what the old witch had described, a call for others to pledge their forces to fight alongside the Grey Wardens in the event of a Blight.

Harry thought it over for a moment and let out a sigh. He was going to get involved, probably right up to his eyeballs in this whole mess. Should have known, really, that something like this was bound to happen- when would his luck ever let him end up in somewhere peaceful and relaxing?

He decided to read everything more carefully before committing to his (probably foolish) idea. Anyway, it gave him something to do while he ate. It seemed too good to be true really- these Grey Wardens were supposed to be given all the support possible from groups as wide ranging as the human nobility and their forces, the dwarves of a place known as Orzammar, mages from the Circles (whatever that meant, but Harry was already leaning towards seeking them out first), and even the nomadic tribes of elves known as the Dalish.

References to elves and dwarves gave him a brief pause, and for a moment he thought back to his old friend Luna and the way she had delved into the pop culture of muggles, specifically their takes on fantasy as a genre. It had led her to trying to get him to play dungeons and dragons with her, although he had been busy with his family by then, but she also used it as inspiration for trying to create new spells. Luna was one of the most creative people he'd ever known, and he just knew that she would have loved to see a new world full of things like dragons and elves.

At least, he assumed these weren't like the house-elves from his world. Maybe more like those Lord of the Rings movies? It was something Harry would be finding out sooner or later it seemed.

He took his bowl and tipped the last of the stew into his mouth, letting out a satisfied sigh and then closing his eyes.

"I don't suppose you play poker in this world, do you?"

"Poker?" Flemeth asked. "Is that supposed to be a reference to something filthy?"

"Mother!" Morrigan groaned.

"No, it was a game of chance." Harry looked both witches over. "Different players had hands of cards, and certain sets were better than others. The players would gamble, usually with money..." He trailed off for a moment as a very fun night of strip poker came back to him. "Anyway, my point is that sometimes you don't have the advantage, but there's always one last thing you can try."

"What?" Morrigan asked.

"Bluffing," he replied. "If there aren't any Grey Wardens left to save the day, then you need to make one up. Who's to say that there wasn't one newly recruited wizard-"

"Mage," Morrigan corrected. "People from the Circles don't refer to themselves as wizards."

"Right," he nodded. "So, one newly recruited mage just happened to somehow escape the battle and survive. And now, he's on a quest to rally forces to his cause."

"You would be willing to do this?" Flemeth asked, looking at him critically. "Do you really think you could do so?"

"Do you have a better idea?"

"Perhaps not," she admitted. "Why don't we all try to get some rest tonight before we commit to any plans?"

"Alright."

"You may sleep in the bed you were resting in earlier," she added. "I need to discuss a few things with my daughter, so I will bid you good night. Come Morrigan!"

"Good night," Harry replied, watching as both witches got up and left. He wasn't exactly tired yet, so he stepped outside for a moment.

Looking up at the night sky reminded him just how much had changed. There wasn't all of the light pollution from the cities he'd grown used to for one, but also, the stars themselves were completely different. He couldn't find any of the old constellations. Of course, the enormous moon in the sky was still there as well.

The air was crisp and clean though- one of the perks of being in the country, if not also due to the change from his home. Harry tried to relax and drink it all in for a few moments. Around this cabin where the witches lived there was a sort of marshy land. He walked to the rear of the building and found a place to take a piss. It was a nice feeling with a slightly too cool breeze blowing. From what he'd seen of the home, they didn't have what he thought of as modern plumbing, so this was easier than trying to find a chamber pot.

After a few more minutes, he went back inside and let himself relax as he tried to drift off to sleep.

* * *

"What have you done now, Harry?"

He looked up and saw Hermione scowling at him. She was so young, maybe fifth year at most, and he smiled even at her grumpy little face. It was going to be one of those sorts of dreams, but he might as well try to enjoy it.

"It's good to see you," he answered.

"What sort of mess are you in this time?"

"A completely different one," he grinned. "I'm in another world, and it needs saving from a horrible monstrous army that wants to kill everyone."

"That's even worse than usual," she groaned.

"Yeah, but the whole savior bit is sort of old hand by now," he shrugged.

"I'm glad you feel well enough to joke about it. You used to sulk too much and get all broody." She wrinkled her nose in disgust. "I'll take some sarcasm over that any day."

"So, you're saying brooding guys never did anything for you, huh? What was Krum all about then? He was the grumpiest looking bastard I've seen this side of Snape- and no one in their right mind would ever want to be compared to that pile of shit."

"Is it too much for me to ask for you not to curse so damn much?" She grinned back at him.

"I'm clearly being a good influence on you." He stood up and looked around. There were odd sorts of pieces of land and buildings and other things just floating everywhere, like someone tried to paint a tribute to M. C. Escher but forgot to connect all the strange pieces. "Why is the sky this sickly sort of green?"

"Beats me," Hermione shrugged. "You're the one that brought me here, remember?"

"Yeah, I guess."

_'This is the Fade.'_

"Did you hear that?" Harry asked.

"No."

 _'The land of dreams and spirits.'_ Harry closed his eyes and listened to the voice, now realizing that this was something he'd picked up from Morrigan earlier.

"I think I'm going to be busy for awhile," he sighed as he looked over at his old friend.

"You raided someone's mind again, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"You should know better than that by now, you prat." She stepped closer and slapped his shoulder. "You know you're going to be paying for that in the morning."

"And all day tomorrow too, probably," he nodded. "It seemed necessary, though. I've got a lot to learn about this brand new world I'm stuck in. You know, I wasn't actually trying to end up here- wherever here is. I was hoping to join you and everybody else."

"I understand loneliness, Harry." She wrapped an arm around him and leaned against his shoulder. "I hope you make some new friends, anyway."

"Thanks. I might have already started on that."

"Oh?"

"Yes, the young witch whose mind I 'raided,' as you put it," he added.

"That's not a very good way to introduce yourself."

"I did apologize. Besides, I'm going to teach her all sorts of magic."

"She doesn't know magic? What type of witch is she?"

_'There are four schools of magic, as the way most people are taught it. Primal, Spirit, Creation, and Entropy.'_

"I'm pretty sure their magic is really different from what we were used to," he answered as the Morrigan voice in his head paused the explanation. "They don't seem to use wands, for one thing."

"Wandless magic isn't unheard of," Hermione replied. "For example, Sirius didn't require a wand to change into his animagus form. As I recall, you learned some tricks like that yourself."

"Yeah, but I think it's a lot more than that."

_'Mages are able to use magic by drawing power from the Fade.'_

"That makes sense," Harry said.

"You know we aren't going to be able to talk for very long if you've got someone else inside your head all night," Hermione reminded him. "What did you want from me? Just a pep talk or do you need some advice?"

"How much of an idiot am I for jumping right into the mess this world is in?"

"You and I both know that you wouldn't be Harry Potter if you didn't."

"I haven't always-"

"You tried to sit out a war once before," Hermione cut him off. "It didn't work then, either. Did it?"

"For awhile," he exhaled. "I tried, but..."

"You shouldn't blame yourself for the failings of billions," Hermione said as she wrapped him up in a hug. "There were plenty of power hungry people that were at fault for everything that happened in our world. As much as I love you, Harry- you aren't all powerful. No one in the world knew exactly how many nuclear bombs there were, and some maniac was bound to set one off someday, for whatever idiotic reason they might have had. And everything that happened after that too- it would have taken divine interference to save us. You are not a god."

"As I recall, you always were the more bossy one," Harry chuckled sadly.

"Yes, and look where it got me when I decided to play god with the lives of others. My parents never truly forgave me for what I did."

"You could have handled that better," he nodded.

"I know that now, but I was seventeen and desperate."

"I remember. We all were desperate back then."

"At least we weren't alone though," she replied.

"I might not be anymore," Harry said. It was strange feeling so damn hopeful again. "Assuming she doesn't hex me into next week, I kind of like Morrigan. She reminds me of-"

"Daphne, I know," Hermione giggled. "I couldn't believe how you ended up with her. For years, she was just this quiet, aloof girl in a few of our classes. I should have known you would fall for the leggy blonde."

"Hey, I don't have a thing for blondes," Harry argued. "I'm into a wide variety of ladies, thank you very much."

"Oh, I remember, mister-"

"Hey! We are not going to get into this argument again."

"Fine. I was so mad at you over all of that."

"And it was really none of your business."

"As you very loudly pointed out," Hermione laughed then looked up into his eyes with a little teasing gleam. "Maybe I was just disappointed that I wasn't one of the girls you ended up sleeping with."

"Hmph," Harry grunted. "I remember the type of guys you were into. We never would have worked as a couple. Besides, as I recall, you ended up fairly happy with old what's his name."

"You never did fall for my jokes," she sighed.

"Hermione, you may have been brilliant, but you definitely weren't the funny one. That was why we kept Ron around, remember? We needed someone for comic relief. Well, and you had your silly little crush on him, too."

"Don't remind me."

"Sorry."

"No, you're not."

"No, I'm really not," Harry laughed.

"What the... what is that?" Hermione was pointing over his shoulder and Harry turned around.

"Niiiice," he said as he gazed at the tall purple woman with horns growing out of her head. The fact that she was basically topless was what most drew his eye, with only these little golden chain things covering her nipples. A part of Harry definitely approved- that little bit of tantalization really added to her mystique.

"Stop staring at the succubus," Hermione hissed. "Now is not the time to be a dumb guy."

"I am Desire," the 'woman' said as she tried to get closer to them. Forced by Hermione to pay attention to something other than his libido, he noticed that she was floating about a foot off the ground and she strutted towards them, her eyes never leaving his.

"I'll bet you are," he replied. "Sorry, but I'm sort of busy right now. Perhaps we can get acquainted some other time?"

"You are different from most dreamers I have met." There was an odd stereo effect to her voice.

' _Demons try to tempt mages into allowing their possession.'_

"Thanks Morrigan," he muttered. "Look, Desire, I'd love to chat, but this is one of my oldest friends and we haven't caught up in awhile. Not to mention that she'll never let me hear the end of it if I don't do all my homework tonight. So, I'll have to take a rain check."

"You should-"

"Begone spirit!" Hermione yelled. Harry wasn't sure where she had gotten her wand from- that was certainly a new trick- but she cast a gout of flame towards the sexy demon lady who shrieked and turned tail. Literally, as Harry saw that she had one of those too. It didn't draw too much attention away from her sexy ass, but it did make him wonder about how well doggy style would work with something like that potentially getting in the way.

"And you!" Hermione turned and glared at him. "You realize that we are basically in your mind and that means I can practically feel how horny you are. Knock it off!"

"Hey! I haven't gotten laid in a long time."

"That's hardly my fault."

"Yeah, I know," Harry sighed.

"You need to get to work," Hermione said in a calmer voice. "If you don't, you'll have a migraine for days. I'll stick around if you have any questions, or just to keep any more hussies from trying to molest you."

"Thanks, mum."

"You're welcome, smart ass."

"Okay, I give." He threw up his hands and looked for a comfortable place to lay down. Thankfully, there was a sort of representation of the bed in the little cottage that he'd fallen asleep in nearby. He headed for it. Hermione was following him as he walked.

"I appreciate your help, you know?"

"I know, Harry."

* * *

"Wake up."

Morrigan was standing over him, shaking his shoulder none too gently. As he cracked his eyes open, Harry blinked and reached up to grab his head. It wasn't the worst side effect he'd ever had from using a legilimency scan on someone, but it was definitely in the top ten.

"You've slept long enough. Mother wants to speak with you outside."

"Alright, let me get dressed and I'll go meet her."

"Good. I have tasks of my own to deal with."

Harry nodded and watched her walk off. She had this graceful little saunter, and that was definitely the best thing about the day so far.

Unfortunately, the throbbing at his temples reminded him of how he had spent the night. He'd learned a lot from Morrigan's memories, as he had tried to focus on a fact finding mission about magic, but there was plenty left to sort through. The only problem was that it was much easier to do in his sleep, and yet at the same time, it did not allow his mind to rest properly. Thus... days like this, where he was going to feel like warmed over death.

And as someone who had died once before, he knew what he was talking about with that particular expression.

Harry found his mokeskin bag and reached into it, rooting around for a moment as he tried to focus. Finally, he pulled out a little bottle of pills and quickly swallowed one, hoping that it would alleviate his headache. He would need to go through everything he'd been able to scrounge over the years and see exactly what he had. Who knew how many of his supplies would now be unavailable in this new world?

It was only a few minutes before he made his way out to see Flemeth waiting for him.

"Good morning," she said.

"To you as well."

"So, Harry, are you still willing to take up this quest as a false Grey Warden? There may be some who will not believe who you are, especially at the Circle of mages."

""Twould be best to say that you were from a foreign land," Morrigan added as she joined them, closing the cabin door behind her. "Perhaps one of the city states from the Free Marches, like Kirkwall or Starkhaven."

"Ostwick would be better," Flemeth suggested. "It would be believable to think your accent came from there, and their Circle doesn't have much contact with the one near Lake Calenhad. Fewer would be able to to detect the lie that way."

"Alright," Harry shrugged. He was planning on just winging it, and he knew how much that would anger some of the women he'd known- or most of them, really- but things usually turned out for the best. Life would be more interesting that way too. "Any other advice?"

"I think you may need a guide, especially for the start of your journey," Flemeth said. "For that reason, I have decided to send Morrigan along with you."

""Twould be best if we begin by heading north to a village known as Lothering," Morrigan added.

"Is there anything particularly important about it?" Harry asked.

"No, but it is the closest place for you to begin getting used to the land of Fereldan," Flemeth replied. "Start learning the culture, how people act, and you will likely have better luck at dealing with the places you will need to go."

"Sounds good," Harry nodded. He turned to Morrigan. "Are you ready to go?"

"Allow me to get my pack and we may be off."

"Alright, ready whenever you are."

As the younger witch went inside, Flemeth stepped closer to him. "You do not have any money I assume?"

"Not from here."

"I thought not," she nodded. The old witch pulled out a bag of coins and handed it to him. "We don't want to let my daughter catch me giving you that. You'd never hear the end of it. She would think I've gone mad to be handing out gifts, but you will need something to get started with whatever supplies you may require."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome, lad." She turned and waited for Morrigan to return. "Take good care of my daughter, Harry. Believe it or not, she is precious to me."

"I'll do my best for her." Harry didn't want to say more, but he disagreed with her claim. He'd seen enough from Morrigan's memories to know that Flemeth had done more harm than good. He'd be working on that as they went anyway.

At that point Morrigan returned, a sort of backpack slung over her shoulders. "I am off, mother. Do try not to burn the hut down while I'm gone."

"Hah! As if that would bother you," Flemeth cackled. "Take care of yourself while you are out there. The world is an unforgiving place." She then turned to Harry. "I wish you good luck, as I am sure you are going to need it."

"Thanks."

"Let us be off then, and you can begin telling me more about your world while we travel," Morrigan said.

"Alright."

* * *

They had only been walking for maybe an hour, with a discussion about the different types of magic Harry had learned over the years as well as the magic that Morrigan knew. While his world had all sorts of spells for everyday use, this world (that he'd discovered was known as Thedas) had largely been concerned with more violent, combative forms of magic. If they were going to be dealing with an army of monsters, Harry supposed that learning some of that sort of thing would be very helpful.

Before long though, they were disturbed by the barks of a large black dog that came running down the path towards them.

"That is no mabari," Morrigan said, readying her staff in case of an attack. At the same time however, she noticed Harry stepping forward, smiling as tears ran down his face.

"Padfoot?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: This is the first very large divergence from Dragon Age canon- due to Harry's appearance causing a distraction, Flemeth does not arrive in time to save the Grey Warden player character or Alistair from the battle at Ostagar. Die Lyna Mahariel!
> 
> But seriously, the Dalish Elf was the weakest origin, I don't know what Bioware was smoking when they picked that one for later games' canon- they don't tie into the main game's story at all, unlike every other option. For the record: City Elf is the best followed by Dwarven Noble, then Mage, Human Noble, Dwarven Commoner, & lastly Dalish Elf. And yes, I've played all of 'em.
> 
> I'm hoping for a weekly update schedule, assuming all goes well. And for those wondering, this story will only cover the first game, but I do have some ideas for going beyond that- we'll just have to see how this goes for now.


	3. Meeting Friends, Old and New

* * *

"Padfoot?"

The large black dog barked happily for a moment, its tail wagging, but then turned back towards the path they had been heading down and growled. Harry wiped at his eyes and looked up to see several of those monsters, the darkspawn he reminded himself, heading their way.

He raised his left hand and pointed towards the monsters. " _Confringo!_ "

It had been many years since he had learned the blasting curse. Once upon a time, a pitiful excuse for a wizard named Pettigrew had blown up a street full of muggles with it. Harry was now much, much more powerful than that traitor had ever been. Chunks of darkspawn flew apart and he was just glad they were still far enough away that none of their tainted blood landed near him.

"Truly, 'tis better than I had expected," Morrigan said as she relaxed slightly. "Perhaps your world's magic was more capable in combat than you suggested."

"Padfoot, get over here! And don't you dare go near those nasty things. They'll make you sick."

The large dog turned back and leapt towards him, shocking Morrigan as it changed shape into a man. "Harry, is that really you? You look all grown up!"

Harry embraced his godfather and laughed. "Now that is an understatement and then some."

"You know this shapeshifter?"

"Sirius Black, meet Morrigan," Harry answered. "Morrigan, meet my long lost godfather."

"What do you mean long lost?" Sirius asked. "I've only been here for about a month."

"It was a lot longer back home," Harry sighed.

"Oh hell, what happened at the ministry? Were the other kids okay? And please tell me someone got that bitch Bellatrix for me," he growled out the last part.

"Other than losing you, we turned out okay," Harry replied. "As for dear old Bellatrix, that was the first time I ever tried to cast an Unforgivable curse."

"Really? And what do you mean, the first time?"

"The war was fucking awful, Sirius," Harry said, taking a deep breath as he tried to keep so many memories buried. "I used the Cruciatus against her, and the sad thing is, the bitch laughed at me. She said something about how my anger wasn't enough, that I had to really mean it. Well, the second time I cursed her, fucking bitch wasn't laughing then. Of course, it was more than a year later, but that's a whole other story."

"Damn Harry," Sirius sighed. "I missed out on a lot then. But you got rid of Voldemort in the end?"

"Yeah, after way too many good people died."

"I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you anymore after that day."

"I'm just amazed that I found you here," Harry smiled. "I thought my luck had screwed me over again."

"What do you mean?"

"I stepped through the veil," Harry shrugged. "Then I ended up here."

"Why the hell would you do that?" Sirius yelled.

"That's a much, much longer story. By the time it came to that, things had really changed. Let me ask you something. How old do you think I look?"

Sirius stepped back and really looked him over. "Well, you are a wizard, so there is the whole longer life span thing. For a muggle, I'd say maybe thirty at most. So I'll guess, forty?"

"Not even close," Harry chuckled. "It's a really, really long story, but I'll tell you soon. What have you been doing since you got here?"

"Trying to stay alive mostly," Sirius replied. "I've run into a lot of wolves and even a few acromantulas."

"What is an acromantula?" Morrigan asked.

"A giant spider," Harry answered.

"Ah, yes. Those can be rather annoying, but at least one can often be warned by the webs they leave behind."

"Well, Sirius, I've got good news and bad news. We're on a quest!" he teased with a huge smile.

"What's the bad news?"

"The quest is both. On the bad side, there's an army of those things," Harry pointed to the remains of the darkspawn. "They are going to try to kill everything, and they're led by something called an Archdemon."

"Lovely," Sirius grumbled. "What's the good news?"

"I have something to do to keep me from getting bored," Harry grinned then turned to motion to Morrigan. "Also, I met this beautiful young woman."

The witch in question raised an eyebrow at his comment, but said nothing. Harry was a little disappointed that she didn't even give a hint of a blush. That was alright though; he had an intuition that she was going to be hard to get to past all the crap Flemeth had 'taught' her.

"I can't fault your taste in women," Sirius barked out a laugh. "Or your priorities, for that matter."

"You do realize that you two can keep talking while we walk, I hope?" Morrigan asked rather pointedly as she began to skirt well around the mess in the middle of their path heading north. "I'd like to reach Lothering sooner rather than later."

"Good point," Harry nodded. He pulled out his wand. " _Evanesco!_ "

The corpses disappeared, and Morrigan stopped in her tracks. "I think that is one of the first spells you'll have to teach me."

"I'll see what I can do," Harry chuckled.

"So, whatever happened to that girl you were seeing?" Sirius asked.

"I married her," Harry smirked in response.

"Not again," Sirius moaned. "Just like your idiot father, falling for the first girl that comes along. Now admittedly, Lily did turn out to be a total fox, but still. It's the principle of the thing. If only I'd been there for you to be a properly terrible influence."

Harry just laughed as they kept walking.

* * *

They were in luck though, as it was only about twenty minutes later before they reached the outskirts of the village. Unfortunately, there were a number of men blocking the path that led into town, and by their rough appearance, not to mention the armor and weapons, it was fairly clear that they were not the friendliest sort.

"I really don't need this," Harry said with a groan. "I'll give you all one chance to surrender."

The bandits laughed. One of them stepped forward with some swagger. "Looks like we've got you outnumbered. I'll give _you_ one chance to surrender." His men chuckled at that even as they began to pull out crossbows and unsheathed swords.

Harry shook his head sadly and flicked his wand at the fool who had spoken. A cutting curse easily decapitated the leader and the other bandits all flinched back.

"An apostate!" one of them yelped.

A deep growl shocked them even more as Sirius had shifted forms. Harry hadn't noticed.

"Run!"

Harry watched for a moment as they took off.

"Are you going to allow them to flee?" Morrigan asked, clearly curious about his reasoning.

"I don't like killing people if I don't need to," Harry shrugged. "They were no real threat to us."

"An enemy you spare today may come back to haunt you in the future," she replied.

"Then I'll slaughter them if they're stupid enough to try it."

"Damn, Harry," Sirius said as he shifted back. "You didn't let me have any fun."

"Where's your wand anyway?" Harry asked.

"Ah, well, you see..." Sirius reached into his pocket and pulled it out, obviously snapped in half. "I didn't have the easiest of landings when I arrived here. She didn't survive the trip."

"I might be able to do something about that later. Why don't you grab the headless idiot's sword for now?"

"And check for a coin pouch," Morrigan added as they both turned to look at her. "He won't be needing it, and these men were robbing travelers."

"Not a bad idea," Sirius nodded. "I'd love some normal food for a change."

"We should head for the tavern then," Morrigan suggested. "Not only to sate your hunger, but 'tis also the place we should check for information and rumors. 'Tis likely any survivors from the battle fled here."

"Battle?" Sirius asked as he jingled a bag full of coins and stuck it in his pocket.

"The king of Fereldan had led his forces against the darkspawn at a place known as Ostagar," Morrigan explained. "From what we saw, they were wiped out, and with them, all of the Grey Wardens."

"Grey Wardens are a type of warrior dedicated to killing the darkspawn," Harry added.

"And the only ones capable of killing the Archdemon," Morrigan finished. "Hence why Harry has decided to pose as one while he tries to rally what allies we can to stop the Blight."

"Okay," Sirius shrugged. He picked up the bandit's sword and gave it a few swings to get a feel for the weapon. "Can't say I never followed your dad into terrible odds either, so this should be a piece of cake."

"That's the spirit!" Harry laughed patting his godfather on the shoulder.

"You two are actually making me wish I was back at home with Mother," Morrigan said with a glare. "At least she had some sense."

"She never would have been in Gryffindor with us," Sirius sighed.

"No, but remember that Wormtail was," Harry reminded him.

"Fair point."

Morrigan grumbled and pushed past them, walking into the outskirts of the village. Harry noticed a number of people in tents, likely refugees from the south. With the darkspawn on their way, those people would need to keep moving. But it also made him realize that whatever sort of inn they might find in the town would likely not have any rooms available.

"This place doesn't look so great," Sirius said as they walked towards the center of town, Morrigan leading the way.

"Lothering 'tis nothing more than a village on the far southern side of the Imperial Highway," she said.

"Is it a typical village?" Harry asked.

"Fairly so, from what I have experienced," Morrigan answered before raising an eyebrow. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh hell, and here I was hoping for a bath too," Sirius groaned.

"We were in a marsh," Harry pointed out.

"So?"

"You were a dog," he added. "You could have just gone for a little swim."

"You think you're funny," Sirius snorted. "Believe it or not, that doesn't help nearly as much for when I'm walking around in human form."

Harry stepped closer and took a sniff before reeling backwards and waving his hand in front of his face. "You weren't kidding, Padfoot. Damn, here let me help." He cast a couple of spells to freshen the air; even if it would be a temporary effect, anything would help. "Reminds me of when you were living in that cave with Buckbeak."

"Whatever happened to that _great, ruddy beast_?" Sirius' voice had slipped into a credible take on Hagrid and Harry couldn't help but smile.

"Let me think back." He scratched his head and tried to sort his memory. "From what I recall, he went back to Hogwarts and lived in the forest with Hagrid keeping an eye on him. I know he survived the war- I remember him getting a few nice swipes at Death Eaters in a battle or two. After that, I suppose he stayed in the forest for the rest of his life."

"We'll have to toast him then," Sirius said as they got closer to the tavern. Other than a few strange looks at their clothing, thankfully no one had stopped them as they walked. "Anyone that did some damage to those bastards deserves us raising a glass for them."

"I think you just want a drink," Harry chuckled.

"Damn right I do," Sirius barked out a laugh, and how that sound brought back the fact that Harry had finally found him. He threw an arm over Sirius' shoulder. "Since I got that little coin purse from our brigand friend, I'll even buy this time."

"I could hardly say no, now could I?" Harry grinned as he pulled open the door. They stepped inside and saw that the place was packed full of people. Every table and chair was occupied, there was a line at the bar, and the center of the room had a few men in armor watching the crowd. He saw their eyes go towards them, and Harry had a feeling that they were about to make things more interesting.

"Here now, where have you come from strangers?" one of them swaggered closer.

Harry gave Sirius a look and he nodded. He slid his wand down into his hand as he spoke. "We are just travelers looking for information. I've heard there was a battle south of here that did not go well."

"Those damned Grey Wardens led the king to his doom," the man replied, eying them carefully, especially Morrigan. Harry took a step slightly in front of her- while she hadn't flinched from anything yet, he was unsure of how much battle she had actually seen. Besides, he could handle anything a few ruffians might be able to try. "The girl looks like a mage. Looks like we have a survivor, a straggler. What do you think boys? Maybe we should take her with us to see if Loghain has any use for her."

"Gentlemen, surely there's no need for trouble," a voice interrupted with an oddly French sounding lilt. A redheaded woman wearing a robe bearing a sunburst pattern stepped forward to intervene. "These seem to be merely a few more poor souls seeking refuge from the Blight."

"Stay out of this sister. We have our orders, and you don't want to get in our way."

"You know, I just met this lovely woman a couple of days ago," Harry said, grinning and ready to deal with these fools. With any luck, he might be able to interrogate one of them. "And I would be a poor traveling companion if I let her be kidnapped by such ill mannered brutes."

"Take them, men!"

Harry whipped his wand at one to the side of the leader. " _Imperio!_ "

He'd long ago lost any scruples he may have had about the spell- it was far too useful to pass up, especially in sowing discord in your enemies during a fight. The victim of the mind control curse stabbed one of his compatriots in the back. Meanwhile, Sirius shouted with glee as he slashed at the armored man closest to him. As his sword struck home in the man's side, it got stuck in the flesh and armor, but Sirius just pushed his way forward, shoving his foe into the bar. He grabbed a mug and brained him, laughing while he did so.

The redhead pulled out a long dagger and cut one of the others across the back of the leg, bringing him to his knees. Morrigan was in action as well- she pointed her staff at a soldier who fell to the ground, holding his head and screaming. Harry was impressed- that seemed like a useful spell he would need to be learning soon.

Only the leader was left, and seeing as how he was trying to fight off one of his own who was still under Harry's Imperius, he was an easy target. Harry froze him in place with a body bind curse, his sword clattering as it fell to the ground.

The crowd around them had cowered back from all the violence.

"Please, we surrender," the man who had been hobbled by the redhead called out.

"I think they've learned their lesson," she replied.

Harry snorted and shook his head. "I don't take it well when people attack my friends, and I certainly don't take it well when men like this leer at women and attempt to 'take them prisoner.' I've seen way too many victims of that sort of thing."

"Please, wait-"

Harry cut the groveling man off with a cutting curse to the throat. He turned to look at the Imperius victim, who fell on his own sword. Sirius finished his enemy off at the same time, while Morrigan cast some sort of spell that made the man screaming on the floor gurgle before he fell still.

"You could have shown them mercy," the redhead argued with a sigh. "Are you going to kill him too?"

She was pointing at the leader, still unable to move due to Harry's full body bind.

"Probably," he shrugged. He floated the man over to the corner at a table that had quickly become available as those townsfolk closest to them fled. Sirius and Morrigan followed him over, both with weapons still at the ready. Harry lifted the first spell and immediately disarmed the soldier. "I suggest you sit down, and if you're very lucky, I may just let you live."

"You're no Circle mage," the man glared and spat out, "Apostate!"

"Is that supposed to be some sort of curse?" Sirius asked with a chuckle. "This place is wild, Harry."

"An apostate is a mage who is a fugitive from the Chantry," the redhead replied as she came to sit with them.

"In other words, the only mages who aren't slaves," Morrigan added with a sneer. "I would expect that sort of lie of omission from a religious fool."

"While that is the type of view I would expect from an apostate. But before we argue anymore, perhaps I should introduce myself- my name is sister Leliana."

"I am Sirius Black, my good lady," the old rogue grinned and kissed the back of her hand. "It is my great pleasure to meet you."

"I think first we should have a little privacy," Harry said with a glance over his shoulder as the crowd was all staring at them. " _Muffliato!_ "

"Where did you learn that spell?" Sirius gasped.

"Why do you ask?"

"It was... your mum, Lily, she created it when we went to school," he said as he sat down and sighed. "I remember it going around, everyone and their dog learning it so we wouldn't have to worry about teachers bothering us or the gangs of Slytherins who all became little Death Eater pieces of shit. Unfortunately, I think she taught it to Snivellus as well. But the Marauders made good use of it for some of our pranks."

"Huh, I never knew that." Harry had kept his wand pointed at the soldier until his shoulders finally sagged and he sat down on the other side of the table. "Let me just deal with this first. Tell me everything you know about the battle at... where was it?"

He had turned to Morrigan who filled in the name, "Ostagar."

The soldier scowled. "You won't get anything from me, apostate."

"Fine, be that way," Harry shrugged. " _Legilimens!_ "

The soldier might have been a stubborn bastard, but he also didn't have any magic in him, and looking into his mind gave Harry no trouble at all. Only a moment later, he lifted the spell. "This Loghain fellow betrayed the king and abandoned him on the field of battle. And this piece of shit was there, so he knows it too. Still think I should offer mercy to this traitor, sister?"

"I do not wish death to any," she replied. "He is no threat to you."

"Not at the moment," Harry nodded. "But he also wanted to capture Morrigan, which I will not allow."

"I can take care of myself," the witch scoffed.

"From what I've seen, I agree," Harry said with a nod. "That doesn't mean I won't help you. But more importantly, the bastard was already happily thinking of 'sampling the goods' during the trip back to Denerim if he had managed to take you captive. And that is something that I have no tolerance for."

"Neither do I," Morrigan hissed with narrowed eyes at the captive soldier.

Harry conjured a very sharp knife and offered it to her. "Would you like to do the honors, my dear?"

"Indeed."

The man tried to struggle and rise to his feet, but Harry used his magic to clamp down and hold him in place. The soldier's eyes went wide as Morrigan leaned over and sliced open his throat. Harry did not bother to lift the spell until it was clear that the man had breathed his last. He slumped forward onto the table.

"I suppose I can understand your actions, even if I do not approve," Leliana sighed.

"You know, Harry, if you're wanting to avoid drawing more attention to us, a notice-me-not charm wouldn't be out of place right now," Sirius suggested.

"Good idea." After casting the spell, the staring crowd began ignoring them, turning back to whatever conversations they might have had before all the ruckus. "Now, I have to ask you Leliana, what is with the accent?"

"I grew up in Orlais," she answered.

"And how do you spell Orlay?" Sirius asked. Once she did so, he couldn't help but grin at Harry- not just her accent but the spelling couldn't have been any less obvious.

"By any chance, are the people from Orlais more... refined?" Harry asked with a smirk.

"If you mean are they arrogant, decadent fools, then yes," Morrigan cut in with a sneer.

"I would not put it in quite that manner, but yes. Orlesian culture is very different from Fereldan's. The fact that the two countries have often been at war, and that it was only a generation ago that Fereldan managed to drive the Orlesians out of the country has left things quite tense."

Harry nodded at Leliana's explanation, before turning back to Sirius.

"French," the two men said at the same time before starting to laugh.

"What is so funny?" Leliana wondered.

"From what I've seen of these two, it could be anything," Morrigan scoffed.

"Okay, before we get into too serious of a conversation," Sirius began, winking at Harry. "Which I am an expert at, of course, why don't we get a round of drinks for while we talk?"

"I wouldn't mind a glass of wine, if they have it," Leliana replied. "Or I suppose mead wouldn't be too bad if they don't have any wine."

"Morrigan?" Harry asked.

She raised an eyebrow but eventually responded. "Just water. One of us should remain coherent, and it doesn't seem like I can count on you and your friend to do so."

He grinned and stood up. "Come on, Sirius- you're buying."

"I'll drink to that," his godfather barked out a laugh.

"What should we do about him?" Morrigan asked, pointing at the corpse still at the table with them.

"Oh yeah," Harry turned back around. "Search him to see if he's got any money or anything useful I guess. Then I can vanish the mess."

"Then you should hurry back so that you can do so."

Harry shrugged and followed Sirius over to the bar. His godfather was cheerfully talking to the barkeep. An arm was thrown over his shoulder once he got close enough. "Harry, just let me say that this day just keeps getting better and better. What better way to meet a beautiful woman than in a bar fight?"

Harry chuckled. "I've had worse first impressions, definitely."

"Me too," Sirius grinned. "Anyway, I figured since it seems like you're interested in the witch with those spooky golden eyes, I'd better focus my attention on the French bird. Between the accent, the whole 'naughty nun' thing, and the red hair, I think I'm in love."

"I didn't know you liked redheads," Harry raised an eyebrow. "Should I be worried that you were interested in my mum?"

"Well, James had called dibs on Lily, but I had eyes, you know?" Sirius laughed. "I once joked that if anything ever happened to your dad, that I would be there to console her."

"Did dad hex you?"

"Nope," Sirius had a little gleam in his eye.

"Really?"

"Lily overheard us and she was faster on the draw. I spent the night in the doghouse- literally," he laughed even harder, having to wipe at his eyes. "She locked me in my animagus form for the night. I wasn't allowed to be around her when she was nursing you either."

"Come on, Sirius, that's not cool," Harry giggled. He could easily imagine Sirius trying to peek.

"I couldn't help it," his godfather chuckled, shrugging and raising his hands in defeat. "I swear, she must have gone up to like an F-cup or something. And you, you lucky little bastard, got to suck on those magnificent boobies."

"I think I can understand," Harry grinned, fond memories coming back to him. "You should have seen my wife once we had our first born. She was already really curvy before the pregnancy-"

"I seem to recall you saying something about that," Sirius interrupted with another laugh. He turned back to Harry and the mirth faded from his eyes. "I remember you telling me about her at Christmas. That was just a few months ago for me, Harry. How long has it been for you?"

"Too long," he sighed. "Decades."

"Fucking hell," Sirius exhaled. "How do you look so young then? Did you come across another Philosopher's Stone?"

"I'll tell you later," Harry replied, feeling too exposed at the bar. "I imagine we'll need a bunch of long talks for me to catch you up on everything. But I'd rather wait until it's just the two of us."

"Alright." Sirius patted him on the shoulder. The barkeep placed the drinks on the counter and Sirius handed over a few coins. "Let's not keep the ladies waiting any longer then."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Sirius is back! Yay!
> 
> The party begins to take shape. Unlike the game, Harry won't be doing every single side quest and neither will I describe all the random battles here and there, just when the plot requires them.
> 
> And for those of you who follow my other works, I'm hoping to have another installment of Does Voldemort Even Lift, Bro? done in time for the holidays. Till next time!


	4. Leaving Lothering Behind

* * *

Sirius passed out the drinks when they got back to the table. Morrigan and Leliana looked uncomfortable, and Harry had a feeling they hadn't bonded over anything while he'd been chatting with his godfather at the bar. Morrigan stood up and motioned for Harry to slide into the seat closest to the dead soldier.

He took the hint, pocketed a coin pouch that he found and shortly thereafter vanished the corpse. The notice-me-not charm was still holding, but he wanted to avoid any smells from a dead body.

"So, Leliana, what is a beautiful woman like you doing getting in the middle of a bar fight?" Sirius asked, smiling as he leaned in a bit.

Harry stopped himself from chuckling- he might not have played the part of wingman in a long time, but he didn't want to screw over Sirius, especially on the first day of them being back together. Besides, the old dog had a valid question.

"I... had a dream, a vision," she replied, a bit of uncertainty creeping in. "There was an impenetrable darkness, and I stood on a peak watching over it. This darkness consumed everything, a storm so great it devoured all in its path- and I fell into that abyss. When I awoke, I went to the Chantry's gardens plagued by the nightmare I'd dreamt. But in the corner there was an old rose bush, long thought dead, and yet it had bloomed. A single beautiful red rose. It was as though the Maker had stretched out his hand to say, 'Even in the midst of this darkness, there is hope and beauty. Have faith.' At first, I believed it was about the Grey Wardens and the coming Blight. But now..."

"Fear not, dear lady, for we are on a quest," Sirius boasted with a smile. "My lad Harry here is off to stop this Blight. You are welcome to join us."

"Are we to take in every stray that crosses our path?" Morrigan turned to ask Harry with a glare. "I could understand the dog, but now a religious fanatic who is having visions from her imaginary Maker? Mother will be so disappointed when she finds out what a fool you are."

"You never know who some of your best allies might turn out to be," Harry replied softly, his eyes staring off into the distance. "One of my oldest friends was a girl named Luna. When I first met her, everyone told me that she was crazy, that she believed in things that were ridiculous- creatures no one had heard of, conspiracies about the government and the like. But in the first true battle of the war we found ourselves in, mere children at the time, she fought off hardened killers and saved my life. She was barely fifteen, a slender little girl that most people would overlook, but when things got really bad- we were outnumbered and over matched- she was the last of my friends still standing by my side that day. And it was hardly the last time, either."

"And then his handsome godfather swooped in, leading the cavalry on a rescue mission," Sirius added. "You said the others made it out alright, didn't you?"

"Yeah," Harry nodded. "You were the only casualty, or so we thought at the time. But, back to you, Leliana. What skills might you bring to aid us in stopping the Blight?"

"I didn't always live in the Chantry, you know?" she teased. "I have a number of abilities that could come in handy. I am quite skilled with a bow for one, or picking locks, if the circumstances call for it."

"Ah, a rogue," Harry said. "No wonder Sirius approves of you. Although I always thought of him as more of a scoundrel, if we want to nitpick."

"Scoundrel, I like that," Sirius chuckled. "I guess any reputation I have here will have to be earned the hard way."

"Better than mass murdering psychopath," Harry snorted. "Or, the only man to have broken out of Azkaban prison."

"I was only ever guilty of the second, and you know it," Sirius grumbled.

"True," Harry agreed. "Well, sister, you should be warned that we have a lot of magic on our side, and if that's going to be a problem for you, then you might not want to come with us. But if stopping the Blight is your concern, then we are your best bet."

"At least you have confidence," Leliana answered with a smirk.

"I have seen many great and terrible things," Harry replied with a sigh. "But I have no doubt that my magic is one of the greatest and most terrible of all. My last world was destroyed by war; I'd like to keep that from happening to this one."

"So, we're going to admit that?" Sirius asked with a frown. "That could be riskier in the long run."

"Only to our companions," Harry said with a shrug. "At first, anyway."

"You claim to be from another world?" Leliana was clearly shocked. "Why would my vision be so hard to believe then?"

"I never said I didn't believe it," Sirius answered. "I've heard of much crazier things being true. Hell, one of my great aunts was a seer- she even told me that one of my brothers would betray me when I was six years old. Only problem was, it turned out to be two of 'em."

"No, it was just the one," Harry interjected sadly. "Regulus died trying to stop Voldemort- that's why he was killed."

"What? But... but he was a Death Eater!"

"You told me that he had been recruited while he was still in school, and I think with your mum, and so much of your family for that matter, already leaning towards blood purity, I don't think Regulus ever had much of a chance. But, he found out the truth about Riddle long before anyone else."

"Riddle?"

"Sorry, that was his real name," Harry explained. "Tom Riddle. Voldemort was just some crap he made up to sound more intimidating. When I was teaching my friends, I demanded that they all used his real name- made him seem less like some boogeyman, you know? Probably saved a lot of lives too- once the ministry fell, saying Voldemort became taboo, and he could track it. However, he could hardly do the same with a name like Tom. Far too common, which was why he hated it.

"But I'm getting off track. The reason that monster didn't die properly was that he had created horcruxes to tie him to life. Regulus found out and stole one of them. He died doing so, but it helped a lot once I found out and was able to destroy them all. That wasn't easy, though. On the plus side, I ended up becoming an expert on soul magic."

"Soul magic?" Morrigan asked with a raised eyebrow. "I think that is something I'd definitely like to learn about."

"I can probably teach you most of it, but there are some things I wouldn't teach anyone," Harry answered. "Creating a horcrux is an abomination of the foulest sort, and there was a damn good reason why Riddle ended up being so insane. The more powerful the magic, the greater the cost can be, and some things just aren't worth it."

"What things would you be willing to teach then?" she asked.

"To the right student?" Harry replied, looking at her serenely. "Almost everything I know."

"I hope so."

"Right, well speaking of getting off track," Sirius interrupted the little staring match going on. "What do we need to do in this town before we move on?"

"I need to see a map," Harry said. "Then figure out where we're going next. The treaties we have mention several groups that are sworn to give aid to the Grey Wardens in the event of a Blight, but I want to start with the mages, wherever this Circle may exist."

"It lies on the northeastern shores of Lake Calenhad," Leliana replied. "The journey would be mostly northwest from here. There is a map in the Chantry that I should be able to show you."

"Excellent," Sirius said as he finished his glass of ale. "Shall we get going then?"

* * *

On the way to the Chantry however- and Harry thought it funny that they had a special word for a church in this world- they ran across another sister of Leliana's faith and a few villagers arguing with a merchant, whose cart was loaded with goods.

Harry groaned and waved his wand again. " _Muffliato!_ "

It seemed that the merchant was swindling the townspeople by charging exorbitant prices due to the panic about the oncoming darkspawn horde.

"We should step in and put a stop to this," Leliana argued.

"Why?" Morrigan countered. "The merchant is doing the smart thing; 'tis hardly his fault the foolish customers are so desperate."

"The smarter thing for everyone involved would be packing up their belongings and fleeing," Harry sighed. "At least, if they were smart enough to value their lives."

"What do you think, Harry?" Sirius asked. "I can see both sides, but I'm not sure if we should get involved. You and I are newcomers here, after all."

"I think that if the merchant wants to be ruthless, then he should expect no less from the people he deals with," Harry said with a smirk. He conjured a sack and quickly enchanted it to be bottomless and then handed it over to his godfather. A couple of quick notice-me-not charms finished his idea. "Why don't you and the good sister lighten his cart? Leliana, I'm sure you would know what sorts of supplies we might be able to use."

"Well, I suppose it is for a good cause," she laughed.

"Then, I would be proud to escort you in this endeavor," Sirius added with a grin.

"If we must," she said with a smile.

"And now, my dear Morrigan, let us be a distraction," Harry suggested.

"Do you expect me to follow your lead?" she raised her eyebrow with a hint of annoyance.

"I don't mind leading, but feel free to take the spotlight," he shrugged.

"Very well."

Harry canceled the privacy spell and followed her as she stepped right into the middle of the disturbance.

"I should have the templars give away everything in your carts," the sister said. Harry identified her by the fact that she was wearing the same type of robe bearing the sunburst pattern as Leliana.

"You wouldn't dare. Any of you step too close to my goods and I'll-"

"Cease this foolishness at once!" Morrigan commanded, staff in hand. Harry had to admire her confidence. The fact that she could probably kill them all with a thought certainly helped, but that she didn't care at all that these religious people saw her as a monster was also something that appealed to him.

"An apostate!" the sister hissed.

"My good lady, would you care to help a poor businessman deal with these fools?"

"Why should I?" Morrigan asked.

"I'm certain I could offer you a reward," the merchant said with a smirk.

"He is charging outlandish prices for things people desperately need. Their blood is filling his pockets!"

"'Tis only survival of the fittest," Morrigan replied.

"My good lady, I've a hundred silvers if you'll help me drive this rabble off, starting with the priest."

"Very well." She raised her staff and the priest cursed at her before running off. The townspeople had fled much faster.

"You have my thanks," the merchant said.

"I would prefer to have your coin," Morrigan responded with a glare.

"Of course," he stammered reaching for a coin purse and counting out the reward.

Morrigan waved Harry over, so he came forward to take the money and slide it into one of his pockets.

"A pleasure doing business with you."

The two of them walked away, over towards a wall that ringed the area just outside the church's courtyard. 'Chantry' Harry reminded himself- he was going to have to try to get used to that. Sirius and Leliana joined them a moment later.

"What's the haul?" Harry asked them.

"A handful of potions, a staff that this world's sort of mages carry, some coins, a bottle of wine, and a very fancy crossbow," the last of which Sirius held in his hands. "This thing reminds me of Hagrid."

"Yeah, but his was a lot bigger," Harry chuckled. "That was true of everything with Hagrid though."

"Whatever happened to him?" Sirius asked.

Harry's expression instantly fell. "He lost an arm in the war."

"Damn."

"Yeah, but he took a couple of giants down in the fighting, and he saved a lot of lives, so he said it was worth it." Harry shook his head to clear away the memories. "They had to hire someone to help him mind the grounds afterwards though."

"You want the staff, Harry?"

"No, you keep it for now. In fact, why don't you and Morrigan stay here for a few minutes while Leliana shows me to this map? If you wouldn't mind, anyway."

The redhead smiled. "Not at all. I have a few things that I would like to gather before we leave."

"Excellent," Harry nodded. "We shouldn't take long."

* * *

"Waiting like this makes me wonder- was Harry intending for you to keep an eye on me?" Morrigan asked.

"It's wise to have someone backing you up when you're in unfamiliar territory," Sirius shrugged before starting to grin. "Or maybe he wanted you to keep an eye on me."

"May I ask you something about him?"

"Sure. But, you'll have to keep in mind that my information is out of date. I haven't seen him since he was a teenager."

"And exactly how long has that been?"

"I'm not sure. He said he's got a lot to tell me. Many years at least."

Morrigan nodded and looked back over towards the Chantry. "I heard you also mention that mages from your world age slower. 'Tis something I am curious about."

"Well, we didn't age _a lot_ slower than normal folk," Sirius replied. "We tended to grow up at roughly the same rate and would reach adulthood in about the same amount of time. But our middle age years lasted longer and some of us were known to remain fairly spry even after turning a hundred. As for a maximum? I'm not sure, but I recall old Griselda Marchbanks was pushing one hundred and sixty when she tested Harry on his OWL exams which... well, it was only a month or so ago for me. He would probably know more."

"Fascinating."

"He sees something in you, you know?" Sirius added. "The last time I was able to talk to him, Harry was going through a really rough spot. His faith in others had been pretty badly shaken- especially in authority figures. The government back home was practically useless because it was so mired in corruption and incompetence, and the weight of the world was on his shoulders. I felt bad for him, and a fair amount of it was my fault.

"But you..." Sirius shook his head and smirked. "He's warmed up to you really fast, which is not like the Harry I knew. And for the record, I don't think it's just because you're an attractive woman. That's much more my style than his. For his sake, I hope you're worth it."

"I see," Morrigan muttered and then sank back into silence.

Thankfully, Harry and Leliana returned a few minutes later before it could get too awkward. The sister was now carrying a bow with a quiver of arrows slung over her shoulder.

"All done?" Sirius asked.

"I'm ready if you all are."

* * *

As they walked towards the other side of the village, the group came across a very tall and muscular man in a cage speaking in a foreign language. Or at least he was similar to a man, although his features were unlike any Harry had seen before.

"Who is that?" Sirius asked.

"A qunari," Leliana replied with a frown.

"Where are his horns?" Morrigan wondered.

"Apparently, they are occasionally born without them," Leliana replied.

"What is a qunari?" Harry asked.

"A warlike race who invaded from the north hundreds of years ago," Leliana said. "This one was arrested for slaughtering an entire family, even the children."

"He could be useful," Morrigan added. ""Twould be a shame to pass up a skilled warrior."

"Perhaps," Harry murmured as he walked over to the caged man. "Greetings, I am Harry. Who are you?"

"I am Sten of the Beresaad- the vanguard of the qunari peoples."

"Is it true what they say about you? That you killed an entire family?"

"It is."

This Sten was very stoic about the entire situation, and Harry didn't know what to make of that fact. It was somewhat disturbing. "Even the children?" he asked for clarification.

"Yes."

Harry nodded and turned back to his companions. "Morrigan, the other day you said to me that trust is a liability. I would argue that it isn't, and that it is in fact practically a necessity to be able to trust in your closest allies when you're in a war. Now, I may not always be the most virtuous of men, but I do have my limits. A man that would slaughter innocent children is not someone that I would ever fight beside."

"I agree," Leliana added. "Some things are unforgivable."

"I think you are making a mistake," Morrigan asserted. "However, I will follow your lead for now."

"Thank you. Let's keep moving then."

* * *

As they passed a large windmill, Harry noticed a group of what looked like farmers and townspeople holding weapons. None of them seemed dangerous- short swords and daggers were the most common weapons and he had to chuckle when he saw that one of them was wielding a literal pitchfork, as this was exactly what simple, religious minded muggles might have tried to pull on his ancestors centuries ago.

The fact that this new world was clearly stuck in the middle ages was still something of a shock, but after the years of hell he'd seen, it also brought back memories of dear old Hogwarts. Seeing all the parchment and quills at the Chantry had driven that home a bit too- but he was definitely going to miss indoor plumbing.

That was also why he couldn't wait to get out of town and find some out of the way spot in the wilderness to set up camp. He had a couple of magical tents in his mokeskin pouch, and the second one was going to see a lot of use very soon. The primary one he'd used in his solitude wouldn't be big enough, although it had suited him just fine.

The larger tent had been something he'd used when he'd still had a family. It was a thought that still brought him up short, dragging his mind away from his surroundings.

"That must be the witch!" one of the villagers shouted out.

"An apostate? I don't know about this," another one muttered.

Harry's attention snapped back to the present and he sighed as he pulled out his wand. Maybe a display of power could save these poor fools from doing something they wouldn't have time to regret?

"Excuse me, but you do realize that an enormous swarm of darkspawn is headed this way, right?"

"Aye," the boldest of them nodded as he stepped forward and raised his sword. "The reward for dealing with an apostate will be a great help."

"You can't receive a reward if you're all dead," Harry replied. "I believe any of my compatriots could likely handle the lot of you."

"We've got you outnumbered!" one of the others yelled. But Harry could see doubt in the eyes of several of them.

"If you were smart, you'd already be packing whatever you needed and fleeing," he sighed. "This town is going to be overrun, probably within a week at the most. For your own sakes, take heed of my warning and go. Because if not..."

He waved his wand with a swish and the entire group of villagers floated several feet up into the air. There were plenty of screams and curses. Harry just chuckled- it had been one of the first spells he had ever learned, and yet even now, it was still proving so very useful. Of course, back then he had just been floating a feather in the air, but the principal remained the same.

He flicked the wand softly towards the ground and let them down.

"Don't make me do anything worse to you."

A couple of them muttered but the group was fast to turn away- three of them had immediately run off at his words, including the one farmer who dropped his pitchfork. Harry exhaled and smiled.

"Ignorant fools," Morrigan scowled.

"True," he agreed. "One would think that in a world that fears mages the common man would be much more likely to run. Flight over fight, if you will."

"Most people would," Leliana said. "They were just desperate."

"And desperate people do dangerous, foolish things," Harry nodded. "I've seen it before."

"I was kind of hoping to try this thing out," Sirius chuckled, waving the mage's staff they had purloined from the grumpy merchant. "I'd bet the blasting curse would pack quite a punch."

"Yeah, but be careful where you aim it," Harry replied with a grin. "You don't have the best of luck with that spell, remember?"

"Hey, that wasn't me. It was the rat," his godfather growled.

"But you still got blamed for it. My point, though, is don't fire something like that if you could hit one of the rest of us, yeah?"

"Right."

"Shall we be on our way then?" Leliana asked, leading them to move on.

* * *

On the outskirts of the town, the members of Hawke family were still trying to decide what to do about the darkspawn. None of them had known the truth about the Grey Wardens, nor had they known about the Archdemon and the fact that this really was the beginning of another Blight. If they had heard Harry's warning, they may have packed their things and fled.

Unfortunately for them, they wouldn't leave until it was almost too late.

_But that is a tale for another time..._

* * *

Meanwhile, Harry's group were near the outskirts of the town and the road leading north when they heard someone call out for help. It had just been one of those days- Harry couldn't wait to get out of this town and finally get some rest.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Sorry to Sten fans, but he won't be joining the gang on their quest. It's nothing personal, but as someone whose entire life changed because someone tried to murder him as a small child, I just can't see Harry wanting to ally with someone who brutally murdered innocent kids like that.
> 
> I threw in a mention to the Hawke family because I do have a couple of ideas of how I could continue this story into a sequel, although that is quite a way off at this point.
> 
> Also, if I do get that far, I'll be making a few corrections to the timeline... because the year 9:31 has too many things happening that can't all fit together.
> 
> Anyway, hope everyone is having a good holiday season! We've almost escaped 2020! Till next time. :)


	5. Answers and Secrets

* * *

Bodahn Feddick had lived a decent life, but it looked like it might be soon coming to an end. The worst part though was thinking of how he had been unable to protect his son. Sandal was an unusual boy, simple but kind, and always quick with a smile. But now the end looked likely; years before when he had rescued the lad from the darkspawn down in the Deep Roads, Bodahn had hoped to never again get so close to the monsters. After all, he was a merchant, not a warrior.

Those were his thoughts as he let out a desperate cry for help and tried to pull his boy behind their cart loaded with goods, praying to all his ancestors that anyone might save them from the band of hurlocks approaching on the stretch of the Imperial Highway that led out of this backwater dump called Lothering.

For once, luck was with Bodahn as a voice shouted out something and an explosion briefly deafened him. When he peered around the other side of his cart, the tall armored darkspawn warriors had been reduced to chunks of rotten meat and tainted blood, sprayed out everywhere along the road.

Sandal clapped his hands and smiled. "Enchantment!"

* * *

"See, now that's how you do a blasting curse right," Harry said with a smirk. "No casualties or injuries on our side and no one blaming you for collateral damage either."

"How the hell did you do that?" Sirius gasped.

"What do you mean?"

"You didn't use a wand!"

"Oh... er, yeah." Harry lowered his left hand and sighed. He hadn't had to explain himself in so long that he had gotten careless. Again.

"Why would a mage need to use a wand?" Morrigan asked.

"Don't the ones in this world need to use these staffs?" Sirius responded as he waved the one in his hand that he was still trying to get used to as a potential replacement for his broken wand.

"Of course not," she scoffed. "They may strengthen our spellcasting powers, but they are merely tools. Were the mages in your world so weak that they required an instrument in order to be able to cast a spell? Also, for the record, the word is staves."

"Well, wandless magic was possible," Sirius admitted. "But not for something that powerful. Damn, Harry, that was really something."

"Yeah, I'll explain once we make camp for the night." He walked past the others and found two dwarves cowering behind a cart loaded with goods- at least he was assuming they were dwarves. They were certainly short enough, and the older of the pair did have a very fancy beard, so the archetype seemed likely. 'Luna would have loved it here,' he thought with an amused little grin. "Hello there."

"Enchantment!" the younger one gleefully yelled.

"Thank you very much for the assistance, my friend," the older one said. "The name is Bodahn Feddick, traveling merchant, and this is my son, Sandal. Say hello, my boy."

"Hello."

"Nice to meet you," Harry answered.

"The roads are becoming more and more dangerous it seems," Bodahn continued. "Might I ask where you and your fine friends are traveling? Perhaps we are going the same direction?"

"Our first stop will be the Circle Tower near Lake Calenhad, although our journey is just getting started."

"I see," Bodahn said with a frown. "Well, the mages are potentially more trouble than I'm looking for, so I'll bid you farewell for now. You never know though, we may cross paths again someday."

"Indeed," Harry nodded. "Good luck."

* * *

Leliana had received a bit of a shock when Sirius had turned into Padfoot, but Harry was just glad to not have to hear him whining about the trek through the wilderness anymore. Morrigan briefly turned into a raven and flew off to search for a place to camp.

"Don't tell me you're going to turn into an animal too," the redhead pleaded even as she grinned.

"No, I never learned how," Harry chuckled. "I considered it for awhile, but I always had other things to do. First just surviving my teen years and the war, then there was all sorts of crap to deal with once that was over. And I got married young, and then we had a family, so it was never the biggest priority. It's too bad though; along with Sirius, my dad had also been an animagus- he could turn into a stag."

"I see. Then I am glad I will still have someone to talk to," Leliana giggled. "I am still unsure about this idea of you pretending to be a Grey Warden though."

"It seemed like the best plan," Harry shrugged. "The people turn to the Grey Wardens when a Blight comes along, right?"

"No, I understand that part. A powerful symbol for hope could be just what we need. I only wonder if there aren't things about the order that you won't know that could be a problem in the long run."

"True," Harry agreed. "We'll just have to deal with that when the time comes."

A loud caw from a raven drew their attention and as it swooped down, Morrigan shifted back into her human form. "There is a small clearing in a wooded area off to our west. It should do for a place to stop for the night."

"The sun is setting," Leliana nodded. "I suppose it would be wise to not try to travel in the dark."

"Works for me," Harry added.

A few minutes later they reached the spot Morrigan had picked out. Padfoot sniffed around the perimeter and then came back and shifted forms. "I didn't smell any predators. Or at least, not any that I could recognize. Who knows what sorts of weird animals this place might have."

"There aren't any animals weirder than you," Harry snorted.

"'Tis fitting for a dog to be in Fereldan of all places," Morrigan added with a smirk.

"But he does smell better than most of the dogs I've encountered," Leliana said.

"Thank you," Sirius grinned at Leliana. "Alright, let me see if I can remember enough protective spells to ward this place to hell and back."

"Don't worry about it," Harry said as he pulled out his wand. "I've had to rough it for more years than I'd like, I know them like the back of my hand by now."

He made sure that not only would their campgrounds repel any intruders, but it would also be ignored due to his old favorite, the notice-me-not charm.

"Okay, Harry, I think I've waited long enough," Sirius began once the spellcasting was finished. "How old are you?"

"I'm..." His eyes stared off into the distance for a moment. Worried looks passed between Sirius and Leliana, but before they could ask him to snap out of it, Harry shook his head. "I'm one hundred and thirty nine. Well, that's how old I was when I left Earth anyway."

"Bloody hell," Sirius muttered. "How the fuck do you look so young?"

"I'm not exactly sure," Harry shrugged. "A long time ago, I stopped aging. Either that or it slowed down so much that I barely notice it anymore."

"That's amazing," Leliana whispered.

"I wonder if mother could tell," Morrigan said with a curious look. "She found you interesting for reasons she didn't fully reveal to me."

"I wouldn't put it past her," Harry chuckled. That old witch had a lot more going on beneath the surface too. "But, I think we should get to something more important than all that. Let me get out my tent."

"You have a tent with you?" Leliana asked.

"Not just any tent," Harry smiled as he removed his mokeskin pouch. "I have a magical tent."

"Now this I have to see."

"Let me just make sure I grab the right one." Harry stuck his hand deep down into what Luna had always referred to as his Bag of Holding. He smiled at that thought- once she had discovered Dungeons and Dragons, she started trying to get him to change his terminology for a number of things. He had gone along with it in part to amuse himself and in part because of how much it had annoyed Hermione.

"You have more than one?" Sirius asked. "That would have come in handy when I was living in a cave for you, you know?"

"I didn't own one back then." He finally felt what he was looking for. "There we go."

"That is impressive magic," Morrigan said as he pulled out something that was about twenty or thirty times larger than the pouch it had been stored in. "What else do you keep in there?"

"All sorts of things," Harry answered. "I told you about all the wars my world went through. Well, the last... oh, twenty years or so I didn't really have a home. As I traveled around, trying to survive and occasionally doing a good deed or two, it was handy to just put any supplies and whatnot that I found in it. I probably don't even remember half of what's inside."

"You wouldn't happen to have an extra wand, would you?" Sirius asked.

"Sure, but I have a better idea," Harry grinned. "Let me get the tent set up first."

With a couple of waves of his wand, the tent expanded even more and stakes went into the ground to hold it up. From the outside it wasn't too ostentatious- Harry still remembered some of the silly crap he'd seen wizards do, like having chimneys sticking up out of them- but he had made sure it was enchanted out the wazoo on the inside, where it mattered. After all, he had originally purchased this one to take his rapidly expanding family out on a vacation.

Still, the gasp that Leliana let out as she followed him inside was well deserved. There was a large open living area in the middle with five doors on either side leading to bedrooms each with a private bathroom. The rear wall had two other doors leading to even larger baths- he'd keep those as a surprise for later though. In the center of the rear wall was an open arched gateway that led to a kitchen and pantry. Due to the stasis spells, there should even be plenty of food and water left over- for awhile anyway. That was kind of funny too, now that Harry thought about it. He'd wait for the perfect moment to tell everyone that they were eating food that was likely sixty or seventy years old.

"Not bad, Harry." Sirius let out a whistle. "Sort of reminds me of the one my uncle had when we went to the Quidditch World Cup back in sixty six."

"You mean your family still liked you enough back then?"

"Well, Bella was starting to be a bitch, but that's not saying much. Andi was always good for a laugh and Cissy hadn't started Hogwarts, so she wasn't completely stuck up yet. Of course, the best part was that my mother stayed at home."

"So, best vacation you ever had?" Harry asked with a laugh.

"At least until I moved in with your grandparents, yeah."

Leliana had staggered to a seat at the large table in the middle of the room. Harry smiled nostalgically at it- the massive thing could seat more than a dozen people- and he sat opposite her. Morrigan wandered around looking everything over. Sirius winked at Harry and took the opportunity to sit next to the flabbergasted redhead. "You don't happen to have a house-elf around here by any chance, do you?"

Harry sighed. "No. All the ones I knew of had died by then."

"Well, good riddance to Kreacher at least."

"He actually turned out to be less of a bastard after I found out what happened to your brother," Harry said. "He was still grumpy, but at least he stopped referring to me as 'the nasty halfblood' all the time."

"What about that crazy one that was obsessed with you?" Sirius asked.

"Dobby... he died in the war. Saved my life too."

"Shit, sorry Harry."

Harry waved his apology off. "It was a long time ago."

"Where do all of these doors lead?" Morrigan asked.

"The ones on the sides lead to bedrooms," Harry replied. "You can pick one out after we eat."

"Do you have food stored here as well then? I believe this may be the most amazing of all your world's magic."

"It's certainly some of the most useful," he nodded. "Let me see what I've got and I'll whip something up for us all to eat."

"A man that can cook?" Morrigan raised an eyebrow at him. "You're just full of surprises, aren't you?"

"Some of them are even good ones," Harry replied, grinning as he went into the kitchen and got started.

* * *

"Alright, now that the ladies have gone off to bed," Sirius began as he poured a glass of fire whiskey for each of them. "What other secrets do you have up your sleeve?"

Harry couldn't help but chuckle. "That phrase is a lot more accurate than you might think. Hand me over your wand though and I'll get it fixed up."

"I don't think you can repair a broken wand," Sirius said even as he handed over the snapped remains.

"Normally, you can't," Harry replied as he looked it over and then set it down in front of him. "But then, I'm not normal." He switched his wand over to his left hand. " _Reparo!_ "

The mending charm did its work and the two halves sealed up into one. Harry handed it back to Sirius. "Go on, give it a swish."

Sirius frowned as he picked his wand back up and then used the levitation charm to lift the seat next to him. "Well, I'll be damned."

Harry quickly threw up a privacy spell and then took a large drink, enjoying the burn. "Be careful though, I doubt anyone else could do that."

"What do you mean?"

"Did you ever hear the story of the Deathly Hallows?"

"Sure," Sirius took a drink as well then leaned back and gave Harry a curious look. "Why do you ask?"

"It turns out it was a true story."

"You're shitting me," his godfather scoffed.

"I wish," Harry muttered and then gulped down the rest of his whiskey. "You remember my dad's old invisibility cloak, right? And do you remember how I was still using it twenty or more years later?"

"Yeah, but-"

"It was the cloak from the story. The youngest Peverell brother was my direct descendant going back however many hundreds of years."

"No way," Sirius exhaled. "What about the other two?"

"The Resurrection Stone ended up in a ring that was held by the Gaunt family. The last of which just so happened to be Voldemort's uncle. Old Tom was a real blood traitor too- he stole it and then framed his uncle for murdering his muggle father."

"Voldemort was a halfblood?" Sirius looked incredulous for a moment before he started to chuckle. "I really shouldn't be surprised after everything else."

"Yeah, and I feel bad for Tom Riddle senior- the guy was a rape victim for fuck's sake, and then he gets murdered by a son he never knew existed." Harry shook his head. "Anyway, eventually Dumbledore got the ring and a nasty curse that Tom had left behind on it which gave him a death sentence. Stupid old man deserved it in my opinion. I got it after he died. As for the wand, I eventually got it as well."

"Then... you're the legendary Master of Death?"

"Yeah," Harry sighed.

"Is that why you stopped aging?"

"Probably."

"Shit," Sirius exhaled and took another drink. "Does anyone else know?"

"No one alive," Harry answered. "Some of my family knew."

"Is that how you could do wandless magic too?" Sirius asked.

"It's not wandless magic." Harry rolled up his left sleeve and pointed out a faint scar, a line down the middle of his forearm. "I had way, way too many people try to kill me over the years, and after the thought of some evil bastard like Riddle getting hold of the damn thing, I decided to hide it somewhere no one would ever think to look."

"How did you-"

"I cut open my own arm and sealed the Elder Wand away right next to the bone."

"Fucking hell," Sirius gasped.

"Hurt like a bitch too," Harry said with a grim laugh. "So, like I said, it's not really wandless magic. To be fair, I could do a few things wandlessly before I ended up doing that, but nothing as powerful as a blasting curse. I still use my original wand for more control and finesse. The Elder Wand is best suited to big flashy things like battle spells."

"Imagine that," Sirius chuckled. "It sounds like your life was even crazier after I was gone."

"Parts of it, yeah. But I had some good times too." Harry poured himself another drink. "You know... this is why I was kinda hopeful that I still might find you someday."

"What do you mean?"

"I used the Resurrection Stone to try to contact you and it didn't work."

"Oh." Sirius scratched his head. "Can I see it?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"It's fucking cursed, Sirius. Do you want to become suicidal?"

"What do you mean?"

"Remember the story? The second brother used it to speak with his dead love and it led him to kill himself. From what I can tell, it's done something like that to everyone who has ever used it."

"But..." Sirius looked at Harry and then took another drink. "But you said that you used it."

"Yeah." Harry sighed. "I also told you that I willingly stepped through the Veil of Death. What does that tell you?"

"Fuck, Harry. Are you alright?"

"I'm doing a lot better," he shrugged. "I found you. Plus, a little something I learned a long time ago. You want to fight depression? Keep yourself busy. That's the trick. Things get bad when you've got nothing else to do but sit there with all your doubts and fears and pain and guilt running around in your head. That shit will drag you down if you let it. So, don't let it have the opportunity to grab hold of you- keep moving, keep doing anything. Take up a new hobby, work out, read a book, whatever it takes.

"Or, find a new world that needs saving," Harry grinned. "That's bound to keep my attention for awhile."

"You're actually happy about it," Sirius sighed. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Harry shook his head. "None of the shit I dealt with after you were gone was your fault."

"I should have been there for you."

"Don't let your regrets weigh you down," Harry argued. "Look to the future, not the past. You know, like the redhead you've been gawking at since we met."

"She is something, isn't she?" Sirius grinned.

"I wish you all the best of luck." Harry stood up and patted him on the shoulder. "But you might want to get some sleep first."

"Yeah." Sirius finished his drink, got up, and gave Harry a hug. "Don't let anything keep you up tonight either."

"I'm going to go watch the stars for a bit. I'm curious if there will be anything up there I might be able to recognize. Good night, Sirius."

"Night, Harry."

* * *

There were no stars in the sky for him to recognize, not even after he had found an old telescope in his trusty mokeskin pouch. It was still probably the most useful gift he'd ever received. He hoped that wherever he was, Hagrid had lots of _interestin' critters_ to play with.

Shaking off a shiver due to the cool night breeze, Harry went back inside. His glass was still waiting for him, so he sat back down at the table to finish his fire whiskey. It might even help him sleep, although he was concerned that he would likely be having another night of strange dreams.

"I see I'm not the only one having trouble sleeping."

He looked up and saw Morrigan slipping out of the bedroom she had chosen earlier wearing a fuzzy emerald green robe tied by a sash at the waist. His breath caught in his throat- it was one he had bought for Daphne years ago. In better, simpler times.

"'Tis a very comfortable piece of clothing I found," she added, clearly noticing his stare.

"It was my wife's," Harry whispered. "Daphne's."

"I see. Do you wish for me not to wear it then? I could go change into something else."

"No, it's alright," he replied. Harry tried to shake off his weariness and forced himself to grin. "Besides, it looks better on you than it would on me."

"Very well." She strode over and seated herself across from him at the table. Those golden eyes burned into him. "Perhaps we should discuss magic then. You have a lot to teach me, assuming that offer remains open."

"It does," he nodded. "But I think we have much to teach each other."

"I can give you an over view of the four schools, although I am not equally well versed in all of them," she began before Harry cut her off.

"Primal, Creation, Spirit, and Entropy," he said. "Primal deals with elemental magic, fire, ice and the like. Creation is mostly for healing and protection. Entropy has a number of effects for debilitating your foes. To some extent, all of those have analogues to the magic of my world. Spirit probably interests me the most- the idea of using an enemy mage's magic against them would have been an enormous boon had I known it when I was growing up. Certainly would have made Riddle much less of a problem."

"Riddle?"

"Tom Riddle, also known as the Dark Lord Voldemort," Harry explained. "A wizard so powerful and evil that the people in my home country grew to fear him so much that they referred to him as He Who Must Not Be Named. There was a prophecy made before I was born that sent him after me and made most of the first two decades of my life absolutely awful. The scar on my forehead is a memento from the first time he tried to kill me. I was only fifteen months old."

"I would not think a babe would be able to survive a determined mage." Morrigan raised an eyebrow as she looked at him, clearly expecting him to elaborate- and it was just one more thing that made him smile.

"I believe my mother used some form of ritual magic to enable my survival," he replied with a shrug. "No one was ever able to determine the exact truth of my miraculous survival."

"Why miraculous?"

"There was a spell known as the killing curse. One incantation, powered by hate and anger, and any target hit by it would instantaneously die. No one had ever survived it- until I came along. And lucky me, in spite of his failure, Riddle kept on trying to kill me over and over again."

"Wait," Morrigan held up a hand and then tapped one finger on the table top. "Do not try to change the subject. While I'm sure your life story is fascinating, I would like to hear more about your world's magic. 'Tis also curious how you have discovered so much about this world's though I have been by your side practically since you arrived here."

Harry's face fell. He could lie to her- it would certainly be easier than trying to explain- but he just didn't feel like he had it in him. "I don't believe there is anything like it in this world, but where I came from there was a type of magic known as legilimency. Depending on how a spellcaster would use it, you could tell whether or not someone was lying when you spoke to them, or... or you could delve into their memories. Some called it mind reading, although there was a bit more to it than that."

"I see." Morrigan stood up, leaned over the table and slapped him. Her glare didn't break either- she just turned and walked away.

"I am sorry," he said. It felt like a punch to the gut, and whether or not she cared or even heard him, Morrigan slammed the door behind her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Yep, Harry is the Master of Death. I know, it's a somewhat common way to throw him into crossovers with other universes, but I enjoy the trope and I wanted to try to do my own take on it.
> 
> Also, it ties into his behavior- some reviewers had wondered about how Harry was acting. Not only did he immediately charge into another quest to save the world, but his moods can bounce around a lot. This is on purpose- he sees this new world as a second chance, and as I've already hinted, he knows how doing something is the best option for his mental health, which is a work in progress- and hence, the mood swings.
> 
> Next up, they're heading for the Mages, the first major quest line from the game. I'm not sure how many chapters will be spent in the Circle Tower yet. But, I do have an interesting option that I'm thinking about- either Arnell and/or Surana (the human and elven mage origin characters) could pretty easily still be alive and living at the Tower. So, if you've got any thoughts about that idea, feel free to leave a review or send me a message. I'm thinking of putting up a poll on my profile page (ffnet) too.
> 
> Anyway, hope everyone is having a good new year. Till next time!


	6. The Wand Chooses the Witch

* * *

Which hurt the most? He had stiffness in his neck and shoulders from falling asleep at the table, eyes that must have been bloodshot from how itchy they felt, a stomach that was still deciding whether or not to vomit and a pounding in his head that felt like that time he'd been run over by a pack of thestrals. Between all of them, Harry was pretty sure that it was going to be an absolutely wonderful day.

Oh yeah, and the night before Morrigan had found out that he'd read her mind.

The bottle of fire whiskey was empty and laying on its side. At least it hadn't broken too- digging shards of glass out of yourself was never fun, and especially not when you were hung over. Slowly sitting up, Harry closed his eyes and tried to take a deep breath. It looked promising that his stomach wasn't going to rebel against him immediately, so that was a plus. He forced himself to open his eyes, fumbled for his wand and the empty glass he'd used the night before and soon had a sip of water.

The excess that had spilled all over the table was just something he would have to clean up later. Whenever he felt semi-alive.

A few minutes of quiet suggested to him that it must be early as no one else seemed to be awake. He didn't remember any dreams, but that could have been due to blacking out rather than not sleeping long enough to drift into this new world's odd dreamland.

 _The Fade_. It sounded oddly poetic for a realm full of demonic spirits and the guilty reminder of mankind's supposed greatest sin- the ever distant Black City looming on the horizon, a supposed analogue to Heaven only if it had been permanently befouled by arrogant human wizards who had sought to take 'the Maker's' power for themselves. Harry imagined that this world must not romanticize the idea of dreams nearly as much with that sort of crazy shit waiting for you every night when you closed your eyes.

At least back home he usually just had bittersweet reminders of all the people he had lost. Well, that and the almost monthly nightmare of watching his loved ones die. But they had gotten much less frequent over the years- so he was improving!

He chuckled to himself at his sarcastic thoughts, but it made his head throb even harder so he dug into his mokeskin pouch. Focusing, which was hard at the moment, Harry let out a relieved sigh once he felt the bottle of pills for a headache and pulled them out. Once his eyes and brain were working properly, he would need to take stock of things. For example, the bottle was only half full, and if he didn't have any more then drinking himself into a coma would be an even worse idea than usual. Luckily, he didn't spill them either, tossing a couple back and swallowing them with his water.

Keeping his eyes closed, Harry slowly rolled his neck back and forth a couple of times to get the kinks out.

He took another deep breath as he heard a door open. Once he blinked and looked up, Morrigan was standing over him, her face back to its usual aloof and snarky mask. "I feel that I should apologize to you."

"You don't need to do that," he muttered, now confused on top of the hang over.

"While I may have been personally affronted by your actions, 'tis true they were logical as you were in an unfamiliar land and in the presence of possible enemies," she replied. "I cannot honestly say I wouldn't have done the same thing if I were in your place."

"If I hadn't hit such a wall in Flemeth, I wouldn't have done it to you," Harry sighed. "And I'm still sorry for doing it, regardless."

"What do you mean by a wall in Flemeth?"

"You do know that she's not really human, right?"

"I had wondered," Morrigan nodded. "She always has enjoyed the mystique of her supposed immortality and all the tales of the dangers of the witches of the wild. I would appreciate it if you would elaborate further, though."

"I don't suppose you've heard of a horcrux have you? Or possibly a soul jar?"

"Those are not terms I am familiar with."

"Well, that's good I suppose," Harry said before taking another sip of water and rubbing his eyes. "Hopefully, anyway. The concept is that a powerful mage might be able to encase a portion of his or her soul in an object, thereby tying them to life even if they would otherwise be killed in some way. As long as such a tether exists, the mage could be brought back to life- usually through some rather dark and disgusting forms of magic in my experience. I'm not sure if its the exact same thing that I saw, but Flemeth has a piece of another soul inside her. And it was a very powerful, very old soul. If she were originally human, I can imagine that whatever that thing I felt in her was, it could be the reason she claims to be immortal."

"It could be true then, that she is the original Flemeth that lived so long ago. I was never sure of such a thing, but 'twould make sense." Morrigan frowned before she continued. "Are you still willing to teach me the magic of your world?"

"Of course," Harry said with a smile. "It will be a different sort of experience for me though, so I admit that we may run into some issues. Those I've taught before have usually been younger, as well as being used to magic that is in many ways unlike the magic of this world. Much of the magic where I came from involved simpler and faster ways of doing otherwise normal things."

"Like what?"

"Like nearly everything," he shrugged. "A source of light. Cleaning up a mess. Having water to drink. Packing your belongings. Washing the dishes. If you can think of something, I can probably find a spell that can duplicate it. It may just take me a few hours to dig through all the books I own to find whatever we're looking for. I didn't bother to learn everything. For that, you would have needed someone like my old friend Hermione. I swear, that girl would have starved to death in a library if not for me."

Morrigan ignored his chuckles and pressed on. "Are all of these books in your magical pouch?"

"Yeah. It's practically infinite. They were sometimes called bottomless bags back home," Harry explained. "However, first, I'm going to have to see about getting you a wand."

"Why do you think I would need such a thing?"

"You may not. I'm just not sure. We can try a few things first, but my guess is that you will have better luck casting spells from my world using a wand, just as Sirius or I may do better casting spells from this world while using a staff."

"'Tis a logical conclusion."

"Let's start with something simple without a wand and see how well it works for you," he suggested. "I'll explain the spell, you can practice trying it without a wand and I'll dig through my supplies for whatever wands I've collected over the years."

"Agreed."

Over the next several minutes, Morrigan was able to master both the charms for levitation and light without too much trouble. It was a nice start and not too surprising over all- these were taught to first years just beginning to learn magic after all. Besides, Harry had assumed that things like that would have been so much simpler to do with wandless magic than anything from the later portion of his schooling.

Meanwhile, Harry had found that he had collected more than forty wands over the years, not including his own. He spread them all across the table's surface and began the process of letting her attempt to find a match.

"What are the differences between all of these wands?" Morrigan asked.

"The two main components are the type of wood they are made out of and the magical core inside them," he explained. "Each core comes from some sort of innately magical creature, like a tail feather from a phoenix, which is what my wand uses."

"What is a phoenix?"

"A magical bird that is attuned to fire, immensely strong, and supposedly immortal. Mine came from one that I actually knew; his name was Fawkes." Harry scratched his chin. "Although, technically I should probably say that his name is Fawkes since he is probably still alive. As far as I know, there is no way to kill a phoenix."

"How should I choose?"

"Ah, it's not up to you," Harry said with a grin. "The wand chooses the witch. We'll just have to see which one gives you the best reaction when you try to use it." He looked around for a moment. "Actually, we should take this outside, just in case. Sometimes wands can give out messy results if the wielder isn't properly attuned to it."

He conjured up a silver tray to carry them outside, where he found that it was still in that time before dawn when the sky's darkness was just beginning to fade. Conjuring a table as well, Harry set the tray full of wands down and had Morrigan stand beside him, with the tent at their backs. "All you have to do now is pick one up, see if you feel anything from it, and then give it a wave."

She cocked an eyebrow at him but then did as he asked. The first one she tried gave no reaction at all. Ignoring Harry's muttered 'interesting' she picked up a second one and gasped as a stream of water erupted from her hand.

"I should have expected that," he chuckled.

"Why?"

"That wand was made of larch, a type of wood that was very strong and notably waterproof. It therefore was often used in building boats." When she handed it over to him, Harry smiled fondly as he peered at the wand. "Twelve and a half inches, with a dragon heartstring core. I actually made this wand; it belonged to one of my sons. He was a great wizard, brilliant and powerful. And don't tell Sirius, but I named him after my long lost godfather."

"Let me try another." Morrigan went through two more that gave off explosive results- one obliterated a nearby tree. On her fifth wand, there was a spray of green and purple lights, causing Harry to begin to cheer before a backlash knocked Morrigan off her feet.

"Damn, that seemed close," he groaned as he offered her a hand up.

"I definitely felt something more than I did with the first few," Morrigan said as she dusted herself off.

"Yeah, I didn't want to influence you, but I was pretty hopeful on that one," he sighed as he looked at the wand reverently. "Nine inches, vine and thestral hair. Made for a witch with intelligence and great purpose. The core was a difficult and unstable one, requiring a very special and capable person to tame it. This wand was my wife Daphne's first wand."

"Her first wand?"

"After it was damaged, she got a second that didn't work as well before I eventually made her a third once we were married. She had still held onto this one though, out of sentimentality I suppose, and I was able to mend it, making it just like new. She taught our daughter with it when she was young, before she was old enough to legally buy her own."

"Well, let's not tarry any longer," Morrigan said as she went back to the tray of wands and tried yet another. The time flew by as the sky grew brighter. Her eyes gave off a hint of worry as the tray of unused wands grew empty. Just before she reached for the last one, she asked, "What do we do if we don't find one that works for me?"

"I suppose we'll have to try to make one then," Harry shrugged. "That might make learning my type of magic easier in the long run though, if the wand is made specifically for you."

With the last wand producing only a puff of smoke, Morrigan scowled and handed it back to Harry. "It seems we'll have to do just that."

"Maybe not." He put the last unmatched wand back into his pouch and handed her his own. "Let's see how you do with mine."

Morrigan arched an eyebrow at him but took his trusty holly wand and produced a brilliant golden sparkle. "'Twould seem that I could learn with your wand, but that won't work when we are in battle."

"No, but it does give us one last option," he answered before sighing and taking his wand back from her. Harry reached into the pouch and pulled out a long pale wand with a handle that appeared to be made of bone which she hadn't seen before. "I believe this wand should work for you."

She took the wand and could immediately feel a connection to it. Turning and waving it into the sky, a bright light shot upwards before vanishing in a shower of sparks. Morrigan nodded, "This one will do."

"That one works well for me too," Harry said quietly. "They're known as brother wands. It contains a tail feather from the same phoenix as mine. The wood is different of course; that is made from yew, a type that gives off a fearsome reputation due to the capabilities of many famous wielders. The Dark Arts, some of the most dangerous magic from my world, are said to be more easily cast with a yew wand. And the man that used that one in particular certainly helped that reputation along."

"Why do you say that?"

"The Dark Lord I mentioned last night- Tom Riddle, also known as Voldemort," Harry waved to the wand in her hand. "It was his originally."

"Is that a problem?"

"I hope not," Harry sighed.

* * *

By the time Harry had freshened up, the others were awake. After a quick breakfast, they all gathered outside and he put away the tent with a flourish of magic that Morrigan was watching carefully. She asked a few questions about the process, and Harry told her how much of the magic involved was tied to the enchantments of the tent itself rather than incantations that she could learn.

"So, how long is this trek going to be up to this... what was it called?" Sirius asked. "A Circle Tower or something?"

"It's officially known as Kinloch Hold," Leliana answered. "Although most people simply refer to it as the Circle Tower."

"'Tis where the Chantry keeps the mages on their leashes," Morrigan sneered.

"We'll see about that," Harry muttered. "Now, I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm not about to walk all the way there when we have much better options."

"Such as?" Sirius turned to him with a grin. "Do you have enough brooms in there for all of us?"

"I... um, probably, but that's not what I was thinking of." Harry opened up his bag and shortly levitated out a rolled up carpet.

"Is that?"

"Yep, a genuine Persian rug," Harry chuckled. "You wouldn't believe the shit I had to go through to get this one either. Well, or really what it took to make it usable again."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't suppose you've heard much about nuclear bombs did you?"

"Is that a muggle thing?" Sirius asked.

"Stupid purebloods," Harry snorted.

"Hey!"

"What is a nuclear bomb?" Morrigan asked.

"The most terrifying weapon imaginable," Harry sighed. "A device capable of not only destroying an entire city but leaving the area so toxic that nothing could live there for decades afterwards. At least, not without horrible illnesses and mutations."

"Dear Maker," Leliana gasped. "The people of your world would use such a thing?"

"At its peak there were more than nine billion people in my world," Harry replied. "Most of them were probably smart enough to realize that nuclear war would be too devastating to consider, but it only takes a few crazy bastards with enough power to cause a catastrophe."

He snorted and went about unrolling the carpet. "I guess it's story time with uncle Harry. When I was a child, the fear was that a nuclear war could be caused by America and Russia. They were two of the largest countries and, as far as I know, they were the first two that were able to build those types of bombs. And they were political rivals for many years. By the time I was an adult, the fears had mostly changed to being about America and China. China had the largest population of any country and they'd had an economic boom, so they became the rivals of America- and of course, they had the bomb too by then. But for the most part, the biggest countries like having power and that means that they don't want to see the world destroyed.

"Even when more and more wars broke out all over the world, for decades no one was crazy enough to resort to nukes." Harry sighed- those had been the good old days. "In the end, it was two other countries that bordered each other and had been in conflict on and off for a century that eventually fired nuclear bombs at each other. I don't know if anyone ever determined for certain who was first, but the end result was horrifying. Millions of people died immediately. Things got worse from there..."

A moment of silence followed him and Leliana gave Sirius a concerned look.

"Harry?" Sirius squeezed his shoulder. "You zoned out on us for a minute. Are you alright?"

"Yeah." He took a deep breath. "Anyway, I suppose I needed to get to the point about the carpet. This was many years later. I went to one of the really bad spots. Have any of you ever been to the desert? It turns out that if you get sand hot enough, and I mean really hot from something like a volcano or a lightning strike, it can turn to glass. Imagine seeing an ocean of sand turned to glass, as far as the eye can see. And here and there, ashes, dust, crumbled pebbles that were all that was left over from where buildings once stood.

"But there had been a magical district not too near to one of the blast sites, and we wanted to see if anything had survived," Harry sighed. "Magical things tend to be sturdier, especially those that have been enchanted. I found a few buildings still mostly intact, and inside one of them, there was this beauty. Just over thirteen feet long by seventeen feet wide, and from what I can tell, it's more than two hundred years old. Of course, it took months of work and spells to make it suitable for use again. Stupid radioactivity. It was a bitch to get this cleaned up so that people wouldn't die from being around it."

"What about you?" Leliana asked.

"I'm special."

Sirius snorted and squatted down to look at the carpet. "I see a couple of holes."

"Yeah, that was from flying over the wrong warzone," Harry said. "I had the disillusionment charm up, so it was really just bad luck. Thankfully, the bullets didn't hit anyone else."

"Just you?" Sirius wondered.

"Yep, so it was no biggie," Harry shrugged. "So I guess if anyone sits near those little holes, just be careful. They should be small enough that they won't matter, unless you drop something like a coin."

"If the history lesson is over," Morrigan interrupted. "Why exactly are we looking at an old rug?"

"Because it's an old rug that can fly," Harry grinned at her. "With all of us on it."

"Just how many things did mages in your world enchant to fly?"

"Lots," Sirius laughed. "That reminds me- do you know whatever happened to my old motorcycle?"

"I got it back from Hagrid after the war," Harry replied. "Do you remember the Weasleys?"

"Yeah."

"Arthur helped me restore it. Taught me all the charms and whatnot used for that sort of thing." Harry smiled fondly at the memory. "It helped both of us with all the stress and everything after the war. We'd lost people in the fighting, you know? It was... a coping mechanism, I guess.

"Anyway, once he was old enough, I passed it on to one of my sons."

"Well, I admit I wasn't looking forward to trying to walk all the way there," Leliana said. "I think this journey is going to be much more pleasant than I originally thought. So, how does it work?"

"Everyone take a seat." Harry went to the front. Behind him, Sirius conjured a few pillows for the group to rest against. Once they were settled, the carpet lifted off the ground.

"Disillusionment, Harry?" Sirius asked. "I don't think we want anyone to shock anyone who sees us flying overhead."

"I'm on it."

* * *

The trip only took a few hours rather than days or weeks, and not too long after sunset they arrived at what could barely be called a hamlet. Really, it was just a few buildings including a small inn that surrounded the docks that clearly led to the massive tower standing on an island about a mile or so from the lake shore. Harry slowed and landed the carpet before they were seen by anyone, putting it away while the others all took a moment to stand up and stretch. The quartet then walked down towards the docks, with Sirius telling the story of how Hogwarts was first approached by students in boats in order to give them a truly magical view of the school.

As first impressions went, it was hard to beat. While it had been many years for him, Harry still smiled when he thought back to that moment. Things had been so much simpler then.

"I rode in that little boat with Harry's dad," Sirius said with a smile. "It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

"Do you remember who else? Each boat could hold four kids when I went," Harry added.

"No," Sirius sighed. "It was a couple of guys, I remember that much, but your dad was already talking about Lily, and of course, complaining about what a stupid arsehole Snivellus was. Can you believe that pile of shit was trying to talk a muggleborn girl into joining him in Slytherin? What, did he want her to get raped?"

"Did something that awful happen to children?" Leliana gasped.

"Unfortunately, I went to school with a number of sick fucks who joined a group of terrorists that happily tortured, murdered, and raped anyone who got in their way," Sirius growled. "As far as I know, they didn't do anything too terrible while still at school. Either that or they covered their tracks too well. But I wouldn't have put anything beyond scum like Lucius Malfoy. You have to understand, most of my family were every bit as evil and crazy and would have been thrilled if I were going out to torture muggles-"

"What is a muggle?" Leliana asked.

"People who couldn't use magic," Sirius replied. "A lot of old magical families, like mine, thought that muggles were no better than animals. Certainly not worth considering them as equals. I specifically went out on a date with a muggle girl the summer when I was sixteen." He snorted and shook his head. "When I got home, my mum used the torture curse on me, screaming at me for befouling myself with swine. That night, I packed up a few things and moved in with Harry's grandparents.

"What was my point in all this?" he asked.

"How terrible and foolish it was for Snivellus to try to talk my mum into going into Slytherin," Harry reminded him. "The students at our school were divided into four groups. Gryffindor was the house of the bold, the courageous-"

"That's where the heroes went," Sirius interjected with a laugh. "Me, Harry, his parents, most of our friends..."

"I had friends from other houses," Harry argued. "I even married a Slytherin eventually. And on our bad side, we Gryffindors tend to be impulsive fools who would rush into danger without any sort of plan. Like when I thought that I got you killed, or when you abandoned me to chase after the rat."

"Yeah," Sirius sighed. "I am sorry about that, you know."

"Nobody's perfect," Harry shrugged. "Anyway, there were also the Hufflepuffs, who were hardworking and fair minded but tended to be overlooked, and the Ravenclaws who were the most intellectual, curious, and often introverted. And finally the Slytherins- they were supposed to be the house of the cunning and ambitious, but to a large extent they were just the most bigoted bunch of bullies and thugs in the school. Of course, with how incredibly poorly run the school was, I think a big part of the problem was that Dumbledore never punished anyone as much as he should have. If he'd been expelling some of the little scumbags, the rest would have known there were consequences. It nearly got him killed in the end."

"Really?" Sirius' eyebrows shot up.

"Yeah, remind me some time to tell the story of how trying to save the supposed 'innocence' of Malfoy junior was worth more to him than everyone else in the school." Harry took a deep breath and sighed. "Let's not get me off on a tangent though- my sixth year was awful, and Dumbledore was to blame for a number of problems. It seems the old man fucked up nearly everything he did during the second war, and honestly, if I start bitching about him I may not be able to stop myself."

"Alright, well we're about to arrive anyway," Sirius said. "That doesn't look like the usual sort of boatman though."

He pointed towards a tall man in heavy plate mail armor.

"'Tis a templar," Morrigan replied with a scowl.

"The ones who keep the mages enslaved?" Harry asked.

"It's not enslavement," Leliana argued with a frown.

"Are they allowed to walk free? To marry or have children? Or are they all kept locked up in that big fancy tower?" Harry sent a scornful look at the redhead. "Because that sounds a lot like slavery to me."

"You may have a point," Leliana replied. "However, mages that don't have something to check their power have lead to terrible deeds so many times. Just look at the Tevinter Imperium, where the mages are in charge but slavery and blood magic are rampant. The Chantry is at least trying to make things better for everyone."

"In my experience, magic and religion should be kept as far apart as possible," Harry answered. He was going to have to do some research on this world's blood magic, and it sounded like the need for it would come sooner rather than later. "But I suppose more information would be a good idea."

"I hope you're not looking to get across to the tower," the templar said as the group approached him. "Because I have strict orders not to let anyone pass."

"And now they won't even let visitors into this prison," Harry muttered as he looked at Leliana with a scowl.

"We're here on Grey Warden business," Sirius said. "We have an urgent need to speak with the mages of the Circle Tower."

"I thought all the Grey Wardens were dead," the templar replied. "Can you prove it?"

"Show him the treaties, Harry," Sirius suggested. Harry handed over the parchment showing that they had cause to draft aid from the mages, but the templar took one look at it and passed it back to him.

"A Grey Warden seal," the templar snorted. "You know, I've got some documents too. They say I'm the queen of Antiva. What do you think of that?"

Harry's urge to murder was rising.

Leliana sighed, patted him on the shoulder and pulled him a couple of steps back. Just because she tried to see the good in people didn't make her a fool, and this templar was definitely not the best choice to handle anything diplomatic. Then again, they usually relied much more on the Revered Mothers for that sort of thing- and clearly with good reason.

"Anyway, it was nice chatting with you, but on your way now," the templar added. Then he looked back over the group and his eyes locked on Morrigan. "Unless... that dark temptress in the back, surely the tower would be far too dull for her. Because, it gets lonely out here sometimes, and you know, you could just leave her with me-"

"Oh, excellent, I have been hoping for new prey," Morrigan breathily replied.

"Prey?"

"'Twill take but a moment," she continued before turning to Harry. "Perhaps you should go aboard the vessel to prepare while we are away. We shall have to row ourselves across. I fear the lad will no longer have the use of his limbs... or his eyes, once I am done with him."

"Eh, maybe I should-" the templar sputtered.

"Wonderful! I can sense his terror! Oh, that will make the loving all the sweeter," Morrigan finished with a purr.

"So, you said you wanted to get across," the templar quickly said. "Maybe we should go across now. Right now!"

As he went to get in the boat, Harry thought to himself, 'Let Morrigan deal with the idiots more often.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Onto the Circle!
> 
> Before I get anyone's hopes too high, I probably won't use a survivor from the mage origin as a 'party member' but Harry will be dealing with the mages in a few ways more than what the game shows, so it would likely be more of a supporting/guest star role, at least for now.
> 
> Secondly, I have been having some writer's block with the mages section of the story. There is a ton of exposition in Dragon Age, not to mention having to explain things that are different compared to the world that Harry and Sirius are from, and I'm trying to shave as much of it down to the most important parts as possible, but it has been a struggle. Huge exposition dumps always drag down stories in my opinion, so I'm still trying to work out the best way to approach it.
> 
> As a fun little note- the wand that Harry describes as having belonged to his son is the one that I got from the test at Pottermore. I had to look up larch wood as I'd never heard of it before. Till next time!


	7. Meeting Wynne in the Broken Circle

* * *

The Circle Tower was a massive spire standing what must have been nearly two hundred feet high, but Harry wondered how much of it was actually used. The pointed tip looked like it was purely for decoration and to make the building seem more impressive and that looked like it was at least a fourth of its overall height.

His quartet was quickly led inside, and sure enough it was even more stone construction, though Harry had to admit the quality was quite good. Magic likely had helped with that. The ceilings were very high too- at least fifteen feet, maybe closer to twenty. It was yet another thing that seemed ostentatious and unnecessary- as well as being one thing this world's mages may have had in common with the ones he'd known as a younger man back home.

There were a few templars running around in the entry hallway, as well as a couple off to the left laying down in what looked to be a make shift triage. Off to the right, there was a massive barred door and three templars standing watch over it.

Only one of the men in plate armor wasn't wearing a helmet, a middle aged man with a hint of grey in his hair and beard, and he was also the one issuing orders. "I want two men stationed in front of the doors at all times. Do not open the doors without my express consent, is that clear?"

"Yes sir."

"The doors being barred is not a good sign," Leliana said as they approached the lead templar.

"Why would you expect things to go easily?" Sirius chuckled.

"Now we wait and pray," the templar said as he turned to the group. "Who are you? I explicitly told Carroll not to bring anyone across the lake. We're dealing with a very delicate situation. You must leave for your own safety."

Sirius stepped forward with a casual smile. "Unfortunately, my good man, we're here on Grey Warden business, and we need to speak with the mages about the Blight."

"I am weary of the Grey Wardens' ceaseless need for men to fight the darkspawn, but it is their right," the templar replied. "Allow me to introduce myself: I am Knight Commander Greagoir. You'll find no allies here, though. My templars can spare no men, and the mages are... indisposed. I shall speak plainly: the tower is no longer under our control. Abominations and demons stalk the tower's halls. The Circle is lost. The tower has fallen."

"What are abominations?" Sirius asked.

"Creatures of the fade can use mages to enter our world. A mage in such a spirit's clutches is changed, his flesh twisted, his mind shattered."

"Do you think this has happened to all of the mages?" Sirius prodded. "Isn't it possible there are some survivors, fighting back against those things?"

"Anything is possible, I suppose," Greagoir shook his head. "But even skilled mages can be bested by abominations. They took us by surprise. We were prepared to deal with one or two abominations, but not the horde that fell upon us."

"So what are you planning on doing?" Sirius asked. Leliana sighed next to him, obviously knowing something about what would come next.

"I would destroy the tower, raze it to the ground, but I cannot risk more of my men. The doors remain shut and they will protect us for now. You have to understand," the templar sighed. "It was not just mages but templars also that were on the other side. But I had no choice. The abominations must remain contained at all costs. We do not mean for the doors to remain closed forever. Everything in the tower must be eliminated.

"I have sent word to Denerim, calling for reinforcements and the Right of Annulment," he added.

"What is that?" Harry asked, taking a deep breath to keep his anger down.

"The Right of Annulment gives templars the authority to neutralize the mages' Circle. Completely."

Harry bit his tongue at that, barely able to keep himself from growling. It seemed like this world treated its mages much the way the wizards of his own world had once feared, leading to the creation of the statute of secrecy. If he saw a witch burning, Harry knew that he would not be able to keep his temper from running away with him.

"The mages within the tower may already be dead," Leliana said. "Trying to mount a rescue mission would be quite the challenge."

"Never tell me the odds," Harry muttered to himself.

"The situation is dire," Greagoir continued. "There is no alternative- everything in the tower must be destroyed so that it can be made safe again. If any are still alive inside, the Maker himself must have shielded them. It is too painful to hope for survivors and find... nothing."

"Let us in, and we will find and rescue the survivors," Harry said as he took a step forward.

"I assure you, an abomination is a force to be reckoned with," the templar argued, "and you will face many more than one. Not to mention the fact that none of you appears to be properly equipped."

"I've been through worse situations," Harry shrugged. "Grey Wardens have mages of their own, which is why I'm not all deck out in armor."

Greagoir looked unconvinced, but shook his head and stepped to the side. "A word of caution- once you cross that threshold, there is no turning back. The great doors must remain barred. I will open them for no one until I have proof that it is safe. I will only believe it is over if the First Enchanter stands before me and tells me it is so. If Irving has fallen, then the Circle is lost and must be destroyed. May Andraste lend you her courage, whatever you may decide."

Giving him a nod, Harry walked past and headed for the large doors. Two of the templars motioned them to the fore and allowed them past, but he could hear that the entrance was immediately closed and secured after his group had gone inside.

The hallway they were in curved to the left, and Harry wondered if it would lead all the way around the Circle Tower. It had been rather cylindrical in shape after all. To the right side, there were a number of doorways leading into rooms, the closest of which was open and revealed a sort of communal living space. Harry could see several bunk beds, chests and desks.

"Maybe I should scout ahead," Sirius suggested.

"See if Padfoot can sniff out any enemies," Harry nodded. "Not a bad idea."

"Disillusion me after I change."

"Don't tell me you're out of practice, young man," Harry replied, making his godfather snort.

"The transformation always undoes the spell," he answered. "You would know that if you'd ever bothered to learn the skill. So, that's one thing I've still got on you, and my natural charm makes two."

"Alright then, get on with it." Sirius shifted into Padfoot and Harry cast the spell to turn the old dog invisible. "Be careful, and come back here before you get in trouble."

Padfoot whined quietly and stalked off.

"This is too cruel, to abandon people to abominations," Leliana said quietly as they waited for the scout to return. "I would not subject even an animal to such a cruel fate."

"The mages have given up their own freedom," Morrigan sneered. "They deserve to meet such a fitting end if they would not thrown off their shackles."

"If it's anything like my world, they were likely brought here as children," Harry argued.

"Most are discovered when they are very young," Leliana confirmed. "It is rare to find someone with magical ability who is able to remain hidden, especially as children have not yet learned to keep their magic under control."

"That sounds very familiar," Harry agreed. "Anyway, Morrigan, just because you never had to suffer under the yoke of the templars, you should not assume that every mage has had such a choice. My parents were murdered when I was barely a year old, and I obviously had no choice but to go live with the evil bastards that I was sent to. When you're only four or five years old and you have no real power, you do what you have to in order to survive."

"And what of when they have grown and developed their powers?" Morrigan asked. "What of those who remain in chains even when they have the skills to free themselves?"

"I will have to learn a bit more of how this world works." Harry took a deep breath to calm himself, hoping that Sirius wouldn't run into any trouble and would return soon. "Personally, as someone who grew up practically a slave, I would do whatever it took to insure my freedom. But I cannot speak for everyone, and I do not know all the challenges mages face here."

A bark announced his presence just before Sirius transformed back. "The hall is clear until we get to a closed door. I could smell humans- living humans- beyond it. No enemies in the rooms off to the side either, so we're safe for now."

"I'd like to take a peak into the rooms on the way," Harry said.

"Then let's go," Leliana suggested.

The group searched through the rooms along the outside wall, and Morrigan suggested to Harry that he take one of the spellbooks. "This one looks like it holds all the basic information on the most commonly used spells from all four schools of magic. It would be a good place for you to start learning more of this world's magic. Also, 'tis likely the book won't be missed if the mages have been killed by abominations anyway."

"Good idea," Harry agreed, slipping it into his trusty pouch. "I have a feeling that there will be some other ways to learn some new spells even faster, but you and I can talk about that when we're not about to stroll into danger."

A few moments later, they reached the door at the end of the hall where Sirius said he smelled survivors on the other side. Harry slid his wand into his hand. "Everyone be ready- we don't know what we'll find."

As Sirius pushed the door open, Harry's wand tracked instantaneously towards the movement on the other side of the room. Several people, including a few children, were running away from a vaguely humanoid shape that appeared to be made out of lava. An older grey haired woman, a mage clearly due to her staff that she waved, cast a spell that froze and destroyed the monster.

"Come no further," she said as she turned to face the newcomers. "Who are you?"

"We're here on Grey Warden business," Sirius replied.

"The Grey Wardens were all killed at Ostagar."

"Why do you think that?" Harry asked.

"I was there."

"If you survived, then maybe you shouldn't assume that no one else did," Sirius answered.

"That is true, although I don't remember seeing any of you there," she said. "I am Wynne. May I have your names, strangers?"

"I'm Sirius Black, this is my godson Harry Potter, and these two lovely ladies are Leliana and Morrigan."

"Greetings to you all, but I have to ask how you made it past the templars."

"The leader, fellow by the name of Greagoir seemed to think you were all dead," Sirius replied. "Harry convinced him to let us try search for survivors and try to cleanse this place."

"He was calling for the Rite of Annulment," Leliana added, causing Wynne to gasp. "Knight Commander Greagoir said that we must bring the First Enchanter back safely for him to believe that the Circle is safe. If we are not successful soon, none of us may survive."

"What exactly happened here?" Harry asked.

"When he returned from the battle at Ostagar, a mage named Uldred tried to take over the Circle. That led to a revolt. As you can see, things didn't go as he planned, though I am not sure what became of Uldred. I will not lose the Circle to one man's pride and stupidity."

"Then you should come with us," Leliana suggested.

"I erected a barrier over the door to the rest of the Tower so nothing from inside could attack the children." Wynne pointed to the shimmering light covering the doorway opposite them. "You will not be able to enter the Tower as long as the barrier holds, but I will dispel it if you will join me to help save the Circle."

"Will the others be safe here?" Sirius asked.

"Petra and Kinnon will stay here to watch over the others," Wynne replied. "If we slay all the fiends we encounter, then they should remain safe in the meanwhile."

"Fine then, let's go," Harry said.

"You want us to assist this preachy schoolmistress?" Morrigan scoffed. "To rescue these pathetic excuses for mages?"

"I will do all I can to save as many mages as possible," Harry replied. "No matter the circumstances. If you had ever seen someone try to burn a child at the stake for being born with an ability while fools around them shrieked about witchcraft being the devil's work, you would understand."

"Fine," she grumbled. "But I stand by the point that those who will not fight for freedom do not deserve it."

"Petra, Kinnon, look after the others until I return," Wynne said.

"Are you sure you are alright?" Petra replied. "You were hurt badly earlier. Maybe I should come along."

"The others need your protection more, my dear; I will be alright," Wynne said before turning back to Harry. "If you are ready, then let us go end this."

"Alright," he nodded. "Lower the barrier and we'll fight our way through whatever awaits."

Wynne agreed with a nod.

Petra pulled Harry aside for a moment. "Look after her, will you?"

"She seems capable enough," he frowned.

"I'm not sure if she's up to this," the younger witch replied. "I was on my way towards the library when I heard screaming and I saw a demon come around the corner. I was certain it would be the death of me; but then Wynne was there in front of me, shielding me. She battled the monster, and when it was over the demon was dead, but Wynne wasn't moving either. I was afraid that... she was gone. As I moved to try to help her, she stirred and coughed. She hasn't seemed any worse off since then, but I worry that she may have been injured worse than I saw."

"I will do my best to keep an eye on her," Harry said.

"Thank you."

He nodded and moved to join the others at the door that Wynne had previously barred.

The group was now five as they headed down a twisting hallway towards what she announced was a library and teaching area. Before they could enter that room, Harry called them to halt for a moment. "Hey Sirius, how are you with animation charms?"

"More than a little out of practice," his godfather winced. "Why?"

"I keep seeing all these stone statues of what appear to be knights with swords and shields," Harry pointed to the nearest such decoration. "I think we should have something that isn't in danger of dying lead the way."

"Why don't you do that and I'll focus on using any debris left behind to keep the pressure on any foes we run into," Sirius suggested.

"Alright." Harry turned to one of the statues and waved his wand, bringing it to life (or something resembling it anyway) while the others stood astonished.

"I have never seen such magic before," Wynne announced. "Who are you?"

"That's a long story," he replied. "Why don't we work on getting through this alive first?"

"Fine," she sighed.

"Good. Where do your magical strengths lie, Wynne?"

"I am best suited to healing and protective magics," she answered. "I am what is known as a Spirit Healer."

'She's the medic,' Harry thought with a chuckle. "Alright, why don't you stay in the rear, watching our backs and supporting the rest of us where necessary. Morrigan, take my right flank. Leliana, take the left side. Sirius, shield if we run into anything really nasty."

"Sounds like a plan," Sirius agreed.

"And you, my sculpted friend, may take the lead," Harry said, waving the statue forward. He pushed the door open with a flick of his wand and let the stone guardian stomp forward.

They soon came upon three twisted humanoid things- Wynne's cry of 'abominations' gave Harry a name for them- and the monsters charged forward heedless of danger, even as the statue raised its shield and sword, Leliana began pelting them with arrows and Morrigan cast some sort of frost based magic that chilled the area. Meanwhile, Sirius fired a cutting curse that sliced an arm off one of the monstrosities. Harry focused on directing the animated stone warrior and watched for any more dangers to come. The first combat encounter in the Circle was soon over.

"Is everyone alright?" Leliana asked once their foes had all been fallen.

"Not even a scratch," Sirius cheerfully replied.

"There will be more," Wynne counseled. "Keep your guards up."

Sure enough, a second group of enemies charged towards them before they could make it past all of the towering bookcases. Once again, there were a few of the abominations along with another of the things that looked like humanoid lava.

"A rage demon!" Wynne shouted.

Thankfully, Sirius was ready for the blast of flame the creature had thrown at them, and his shield charm deflected the elemental damage away. Morrigan again used an ice based spell, targeting the rage demon, while Harry sent the statue to block the path of the charging abominations and then fired an exploding curse at the one furthest to his left. As it was destroyed with a shower of gore, Leliana's aim was now clear and she quickly put two arrows into the rage demon, felling it. The last of the abominations was no match for the group.

They moved further through the library, once again coming to a door.

"Let me give it a sniff before we move on," Sirius suggested. Harry nodded and Padfoot once again appeared, moving towards the door. He paused for a moment and went back to where their defeated foes had fallen, clearly taking the time to get the scent of both of the types of monsters they had already encountered, then trotted back to the door. A moment later, Sirius was back. "There are some of both of these foul things beyond the door, but the odor of the abominations was stronger."

"I haven't come across a shapeshifter before," Wynne piped up. "Where did you learn such magic? I haven't heard of it being taught in any of the Circles."

"The Grey Wardens have less strict views on magic," Harry replied. He would once again have to thank Daphne for helping to bring out his more devious side. "To defeat the darkspawn, sometimes whatever is necessary must be done. Therefore, even mages from outside the Circles have been members over the many years."

"Thus, techniques from apostates have found their way," Wynne finished, not quite with a question in her tone. "I suppose Dalish keepers have their own types of magic that we do not know either."

"I've never met one of those, but I think I'd like to," Harry said with a curious look. "I suppose we should focus though. I'll handle the abominations. Sirius, be ready to shield, and the rest of you, try to aim for the... what were they called?"

"Rage demons," Morrigan answered. "But I would suggest an alternate plan. If we stay back and have the statue you're controlling open the door, then we can make our foes funnel through the doorway to get to us. 'Twould be a weakness for them that we could exploit."

"Good idea," Sirius said. "But we can improve on it even more. Harry, you summon the door out of our way, and I'll hit them with a blasting curse."

"Are you sure?" Harry cocked an eyebrow at his godfather.

"It's my turn," the old dog pouted, making Harry chuckle.

"Fine, fine," he grinned. "Ladies, feel free to pick off whatever is left over, and I'll be taking care of our defenses in case anything is still standing."

The quintet fanned out, with Harry in the middle. "Ready? _Accio door!_ "

As he waved his wand, the door was yanked off its hinges and came flying towards him. Harry turned and flicked with his wrist, levitating it up and out of the way as the creatures charged forward, letting out some sort of unnatural battle cry. Another of the balls of flame came from a rage demon, and Harry reflected it with a shield charm just as Sirius' blasting curse exploded right in the middle of the surging monsters. It destroyed all of the abominations while the two rage demons in the rear shrieked in what Harry had to assume was pain.

Morrigan and Wynne both used ice based spells again and Leliana added a couple of arrows into the creatures before they fell.

"Nice work everybody," Harry said.

"The room beyond is the outer library," Wynne remarked. "It holds the stairs that lead up to the second floor."

"How many more floors will we need to go through?" Sirius asked.

"There are three more floors roughly the same size as this one before we reach the Harrowing Chamber at the top," Wynne replied. "I wouldn't be surprised if the demons become stronger the higher we climb. You should all prepare yourselves for more of these creatures, and likely even worse things still to come."

"Lovely," Morrigan snorted.

"Indeed," Harry agreed before walking over to his animated statue and tapping it on the back. "Lead on, my stone friend."

* * *


	8. A Tower Full of Monsters

* * *

"Owain's room is near here," Wynne said. "I hope he is alright."

Climbing the stairs to the second floor, they came upon a large open space, as if for a warehouse or storage room. And standing at the doorway was an amazingly calm man with what looked like the Chantry's starburst pattern tattooed in the middle of his forehead.

"Please refrain from going into the stockroom," he said softly. "It is a mess and I have not been able to get it into a state fit to be seen. I was trying to tidy up but there is little that I can do."

"Owain, you should have fled with the others," Wynne told him.

"I tried to leave when things got quiet," he replied. "That was when I encountered the barrier. Finding no other way out, I returned here to my work. The stockroom is my responsibility."

"If you had said something, I would have opened the door for you," Wynne chided him gently.

"Why is he like this?" Sirius asked. "He's far too calm for being in the middle of all this chaos- monsters, bloodshed-"

"Owain is one of the tranquil," Wynne answered. "The tranquil do not have emotions."

"What?" Sirius yelped. "What the bloody hell does that mean?"

"Those mages who are unable to control their magic or who are too vulnerable to spirit possession are separated from the Fade, and thus become tranquil," Wynne explained. "They are no longer able to cast spells, but they are safe, and they also become peaceful."

"Tranquil- what an awful fucking euphemism," Harry spat, then looked at Leliana with a raised eyebrow. "Are you still going to tell me that these mages aren't slaves?"

"I would prefer not to die," Owain stated in the same flat voice. "I would prefer it if the Tower returned to the way it was. Perhaps Niall will succeed and save us all."

"What did Niall do?" Wynne asked.

"He came here with several other mages and took the Litany of Adralla."

"But that protects against mind domination," Wynne interjected. "Is blood magic at work here? Niall was at the meeting that was going on before this nightmare began. He should know more of what is going on. Blood magic- I was afraid of this."

"We have no time to waste then," Leliana said.

"I wish you luck," Owain added.

The group headed for the next room through an archway, and Sirius turned to Wynne. "Will he be alright back there?"

"As long as nothing gets past us," she sighed.

Harry made his animated stone statue come to a stop and motioned for everyone to get behind him. "I see more mages."

Unfortunately, they saw him as well, and one of them cast a Flame Blast at him. Sirius was just as quick though, and he was still prepared to defend Harry- the shield charm negated the enemy's magic. Harry retaliated with a volley of stunners, dropping all three of the mages.

"Why would they attack us?"

"They could be blood mages," Wynne replied. "If they are a part of this madness, it could explain why they are here and not under attack."

"Or maybe they panicked," Sirius suggested. He motioned to the bookshelves and tables nearby. "This does seem to be some sort of study, so maybe they found a safe place to hide and just reacted without thinking when they heard us coming."

"I've seen worse reactions, when people get into a fight or flight situation," Harry agreed.

"What shall we do with them?" Morrigan asked. "If they are an enemy, 'twould be unwise to leave them to possibly attack us again."

"But we should not kill them if they are innocent," Leliana argued.

"No one is innocent," Morrigan snorted. Harry couldn't keep himself from chuckling.

"They could be useful allies," Sirius replied. "Assuming they aren't truly out to kill us. That is why we came here after all- looking for help to stop the Blight- and we'll likely need every mage we can get."

"True," Harry nodded. "Why don't you all check the next room? I'll wake one of them and find out."

"Are you sure?" Wynne asked.

"Yeah, I've got this. Just be careful."

"You too, Harry," Sirius said.

He waited for the others to get out of sight. Once they had, Harry didn't bother to wake up the mages. Instead, he transfigured them all into marbles and slipped them into one of his pockets. He didn't have time for interrogations right now, but he didn't want to get into a huge conversation with Wynne just yet either. Knowing that she was a mage who had lived in the Circle for decades, there were too many questions she would ask about his magic and he was not willing to trust her just yet- especially not if she agreed with the idea that mages should be confined to this place.

Harry had met too many people who had grown complacent with their lot in life, even among witches and wizards.

He quickly cast a spell to scan the staves the three mages had been carrying and chose the strongest of them for himself, shrinking the other two and putting them into his mokeskin pouch. Turning back to the warrior statue, Harry refreshed his animation charm and sent it along the hallway, hurrying to catch up with the others.

A moment later, he found them, battling a group of monsters made up of not only more of those abominations but also what appeared to be some sort of undead. They were almost reminiscent of Inferi. Harry set aside his curiosity and banished two of the creatures away from his allies. His arrival turned the fight into a route, and their foes were soon all slain.

"Is everyone alright?"

"Only a few bumps and scratches," Wynne huffed. "Nothing I can't cure if you'll give me a moment."

"Good." Harry caught his breath and went back out into the hall.

The group made good progress from there, coming across a few more monsters, but nothing they couldn't handle with ease. The curving circular hallway eventually came to an end, and Harry realized they must have gone all the way around the second floor of the Tower. There was a closed door to the right as well as a set of stairs leading up on his left.

"This is Irving's office. I half-expected to find him here, but... I suppose that was too much to hope for," Wynne said as she looked inside the room on the right. "He must be somewhere higher, perhaps still trying to fix whatever has caused all of this."

"Then we should hurry on," Sirius said.

"Indeed," Leliana agreed.

When they came out onto the third floor, they found themselves in a large, open room.

"'Tis strange that we have not encountered more resistance," Morrigan said. "Where are all the mages? Are they all dead?"

"There were others here earlier," Wynne whispered sadly. "Everyone is either gone... or dead. I fear the worst."

Taking the door on the left, they came upon another large room, this one with scattered benches overturned and a few more of the Inferi-like animated corpses that immediately attacked them. With plenty of open space, the group quickly took them all down. Incendios from Harry and Sirius were able to dispatch the undead just as easily as similar cursed things from their home world.

After that, they plowed through two more rooms of enemies, more abominations, undead, and the firey rage demons. But the door after that led to a new type of enemy- possessed templars that screamed out their fury and immediately attacked.

Thankfully, the doorway was small enough that Harry could have his animated statue block the templars from all massing upon them, and the others all fired spells or arrows as best they could over the stone guardian's shoulders.

"Ugh! I'm going to have nightmares after this," Leliana groaned as one of the templars completely ignored the arrow that pierced one of its eyes and blindly continued to fight.

While using her more debilitating spells to leave one of the possessed foes enfeebled and floundering on the floor, Morrigan pondered, ""Tis most intriguing. Corruption not unlike the darkspawn's; perhaps they are related?"'

"Ask questions later, keep killing now," Sirius yelled, felling another of the possessed warriors with a cutting curse that took off his head.

One of the enraged templars smashed the stone head off the statue, but Harry merely used that as an opportunity to fire one last spell over the exposed shoulders, a blasting curse that punched through the final enemy.

"This cannot continue," Wynne gasped. "We must put an end to this madness."

"Agreed," Harry nodded as he summoned the largest broken chunk of stone that had once been his animated companion's head to his free hand. "Let's keep moving."

"What are you going to do with that?" Sirius asked.

"Did you ever take Ancient Runes?"

"Yeah, a long time ago," Sirius chuckled. "You'll have to forgive me if I don't remember everything."

Harry grinned and cast a spell, using his wand to slowly carve into the stone he held in his left hand. "I didn't study it originally, but later on I spent a lot of time catching up and I found it really interesting. You know how, for the most part anyway, runes are used to create long lasting effects with things like ward stones and whatnot? Or as part of the enchantments on magical items?"

"Oh yeah," Sirius grinned. "I used several of them on that old bike of mine. Why do you ask?"

"One of the things I learned much later on was how to use them to power shorter-lived magical effects," Harry replied. "Normally, that goes against the point, but with the right runes, you can do the opposite of what most wizards would consider the normal effects. For example, instead of protection from fires, you merely switch a couple of runes-" he held up the stone he was still carving and pointed to one of them in particular, "and then you can have something that instead ignites much more easily."

"Okay, but what-"

"Next, you combine that with a nasty destructive element, like an exploding curse," Harry smiled as he layered just such an enchantment over the rock before turning to Morrigan, who was obviously watching what he was doing as well. He winked at her and kept on smiling despite the glare he received. "And if you want to make things even better, you add one last ingredient to dial up the power."

He wiped the rock along a small cut on his left arm, and the blood seeped into the stone.

Wynne gasped in shock. "You're a blood mage!"

"Not really," Harry shook his head. "At least, not the way you're thinking of. I don't use it to control peoples' minds or summon demons- that's just way too clumbsy and, frankly, dumb. But, I have studied all sorts of magic that relates to blood. It was kind of necessary, due to things that happened when I was young."

"You mean with Voldemort?" Sirius asked.

"And my mum," Harry added with a nod. "But yes, after that night at the graveyard, where stealing my blood was an important part of his nasty little 'rebirthing' ceremony, it seemed really bloody important, you know? Plus, Dumbledore always made this big deal about how Lily Potter's sacrifice saved me when I was a baby and that it had some sort of 'blood protection' element to it, although he never fully explained that, of course. The old man just gave this spiel about how the nobility of a mother's love was a 'power beyond magic' and some other nonsense. Personally, I still think she came up with some sort of ritual magic that no one had heard of before."

"Huh, I never thought of it like that before," Sirius scratched his chin before starting to grin. "It does make a lot more sense than you having some sort of magic forehead that was killing curse proof."

Harry laughed. "Yeah, definitely."

"Back to the point," Morrigan interrupted. "What will that piece of stone that you've been carving on be able to do?"

"I'll show you as soon as we run into another of those rage demon things," Harry answered.

As it turned out, the wait would be short, as there was just such a creature in the next large room they came upon. Harry used a banishing charm to launch the rock at the creature made of flame and when it made contact, the explosion completely obliterated it as well as three abominations that were within ten feet of the blast. The remaining enemies fell that much quicker without the rage demon to lead the attack.

Sirius whistled and grinned. "Not bad, Harry, not bad at all."

"I agree," Morrigan said. "I will be looking forward to learning more from you soon. 'Tis some very interesting uses of magic I have never encountered the like of."

"As soon as we're done here, I'll make time," Harry agreed.

"Good, see that you do."

* * *

They moved on and came upon more possessed templars, resulting in another fight. Thankfully, they were once again clustered in a room with only a single doorway that resulted in a bottleneck that made them much easier foes for Harry's group to handle.

On the other hand, there was a tall purple female demon that seemed to be controlling them that was much more dangerous. She looked like the succubus that he'd seen in his dream when he spoke to Hermione in the Fade, but this one was not interested in talking, launching a spell as soon as they had been seen. Even worse, she had no compunction against throwing dangerous area effecting magic into the middle of the templars that were under her command.

That should have made the fight slightly harder to deal with, but the fireball that the demon had thrown actually made things much easier as Harry and Sirius both shouted out ' _Protego_ ' on seeing the deadly blast heading towards them. Hence, her entranced muscle were the only ones damaged by her volley of magic. It left the demon exposed to a number of nasty curses and spells that made short work of her.

"What was that?" Sirius asked.

"You mean the babe?" Harry chuckled.

"Yeah. Usually a woman has to get to know me a bit better before she'll start throwing magic at me like that," his godfather grinned.

Harry snorted just as Wynne answered them. "That creature is what's known as a desire demon, for they prey on the desires of mortals to lure in their victims to their doom."

"I can see why some fools would fall for such charms," Morrigan scoffed before arching an eyebrow at Harry. "However, I would think you would be made of sterner stuff."

"I had one of them show up in my dream that night at your mother's cottage," Harry said with a laugh. "I was busy talking to an old friend though, so I had to ask 'Desire' to leave. She didn't take it well, but Hermione always was a taskmaster, so she wouldn't let me waste time with a succubus."

"Succubus?" Leliana asked.

"It's what we called them where Sirius and I came from," Harry replied. "I never thought I'd see one in real life."

"You know, I kind of liked the purple skin," Sirius smirked. "But I don't think I could ever be with a woman that much taller than me."

"Did you know that Hagrid's mum was a giant?" Harry asked.

"I did actually," Sirius barked out a laugh. "Unfortunately, his dad died too young before Hagrid could ask him any really uncomfortable questions. Can you imagine? Talk about an ' _Engorgio_ ' charm, eh?"

"Personally, I wouldn't risk it," Harry chuckled.

"If the two of you are quite finished," Wynne interjected as she motioned further down the hall. "I believe we have more work to do."

"If you insist," Sirius said. Smiling at Harry, he asked, "Does she remind you of McGonagall?"

"Minerva was much more strict when I was still a student," he answered. "But I think she mellowed a fair amount later on."

"Maybe it's just having an older woman get on my case about needing to be more serious."

"You can't be anymore Sirius than you are," Harry grinned.

"Bloody right," he laughed. Leliana tried to stifle a giggle while the two witches were frowning at them, standing near a larger door leading off to the left, the inside of the tower. Sirius caught up and winked at the redhead. "Let me check that before we open it."

Shifting into Padfoot briefly to give it a smell, Sirius then reappeared and said, "I think there's something living beyond this, but I also got a whiff of more undead."

"Everyone get ready then, and I'll have my stone friend do the honors," Harry announced as the statue trundled into place. With one last look to make sure the others were prepared, the door was then flung wide open.

Sure enough, there were several undead that shuffled towards them, as well as one slightly larger abomination with a hunched back that looked like a mass of cancerous tumors. Harry aimed for what looked like the biggest threat and sent an exploding curse at the hideous once-human thing. It shrieked loudly as part of its shoulder and hump burst; he might have gagged if Harry hadn't seen dozens of worse things over the years, but to his right, Leliana looked a little green and he couldn't really blame her. She stayed focused though and shot an arrow through the thing's throat.

Morrigan, Wynne, and Sirius had been dealing with the undead, using an interesting variety of spells to do so: a corrosive poison that caused one of them to explode, a conjured chunk of rock that knocked another off its feet, and the trusty Incendio charm which turned the last of the Inferi-like things to ash.

With the path cleared, Harry's stone statue marched up to the abomination and impaled the monster on its sword.

"That was nasty business," Sirius muttered.

"Moriah, are you alright?" Wynne asked as she pushed past the rest of the group. Now that the enemies were out of the way, Harry noticed there were three mages standing in the center of the room.

"Thank you," Moriah answered, once again in that flat, emotionless tone. "That was an uncomfortable experience."

"I'm glad you're safe, my dear," Wynne fussed over the young tranquil woman. "If you and the others would be so kind, the path is cleared for you to make your way to the lower floors. You'll find Owain at the stockroom, and you should all be safe there until we have finished clearing the rest of the Tower."

"As you wish."

The three tranquil walked out through the door Harry's group had come through. On the other hand, Sirius was scowling at the stairs leading up to the fourth floor which were surrounded by heaps of blood and flesh. "Something vile happened here."

"We haven't seen the worst yet," Leliana agreed.

"How many more floors are there?" Harry asked.

"One more like this, and then the harrowing chamber at the top," Wynne answered.

He sighed in response. "Onwards then."

* * *

"It's too quiet," Leliana said. "If the worst lies at the top of the Tower, we should expect to find more enemies, not fewer."

"I agree," Wynne nodded.

"As long as we all stay on guard, we should be okay," Sirius said.

"I'm glad someone is feeling confident," Leliana grinned at him.

"The last really big nasty fight I was in was against a bunch of evil wizards, and on top of that, we had to rescue a bunch of teenagers that had gotten in over their heads," Sirius chuckled. "At least this time, I don't have my crazy bitch of a cousin trying to kill me or Harry."

"Yeah, Bellatrix was a nasty piece of work." Harry tapped the statue on its head and watched as it started to march down the hall. "From everything I learned over the years, I swear she must have killed and tortured more people than even old Tom himself. She was damn near as hard to kill, too."

A moment later they heard voices coming from a nearby room.

"... and I helped with supper!"

"Well it is delicious. Thank you, my dear." That was a man's voice, but the one that answered him was clearly not human.

"Isn't this wonderful, husband? Isn't our life perfect?"

Harry sighed when he saw that the second voice was coming from another succubus- no, 'desire demon' he reminded himself. She sounded even creepier than the one he had spoken to in the Fade; her melodic voice was blended with much deeper tones, as if she were three or four different speakers.

"Yes, it is all perfect," a clearly bewitched templar agreed.

"Everything is just as you wanted, my knight. Our love and our family is more than you hoped for," the demon told him.

"Do you hear something, love?" he asked.

"It is nothing my darling. Just the door. I will get it," the demon answered. "The children have finished supper. Tuck them into bed while I see who it is."

"Don't be long," the templar said merrily, his voice sounding slightly inebriated. "The children will want to kiss you goodnight."

"Now this is really fucking messed up," Sirius whispered.

Leliana nodded next to him. "I'm not sure if I should be more horrified, disgusted, or depressed. He seems truly happy that way."

"Illusions can't bring you true happiness," Harry muttered. "Not even if they leave you out of your mind."

"You sound as if you have experience," Morrigan added, to which Harry merely sighed.

"I will be but a moment my pet." The desire demon turned to address the group, looking at them as interlopers. "You are intruding upon a loving, intimate moment, and I dislike interruptions."

"There is nothing loving or intimate about this, demon!" Wynne spat.

"I have given him what he always wanted. Where is the harm in that?"

"You have trapped him in a lie," Leliana said.

"All emotion is intangible," the demon replied. "You cannot see it, cannot grasp it."

"But it is caused by real events, real people," Wynne argued. "What you have done to him is abhorrent."

"I saw his loneliness and longing for a family that loved him," the demon said.

Leliana interrupted. "This thing is feeding off his innermost desires and taking away his will. This is unholy."

"He has gone through life empty and resentful. I have given him something more," the demon replied, stroking one hand down the templar's face and causing him to smile. "I want nothing from you. All I ask is that you leave us alone."

"You cannot expect this to last. The Circle will not remain in chaos for too long," Harry pointed out.

"What becomes of us is not your concern."

"We cannot let this stand," Leliana argued.

Harry turned and saw both Wynne and Sirius agreeing with her, although Morrigan was as aloof as he expected her to be. 'Majority rules,' he thought to himself. _"Expulso!_ "

His aim was true and the curse put a hole through the demon's chest, spraying dark blue blood up over the templar's face.

"No! My love!" The templar screamed and charged the group.

"Shit," Harry muttered. They had moved too far into the room, so the templar was able to flank around the statue and he was barreling right down on the murderer of his supposed wife. Leliana fired low, aiming at the less armored legs of the templar, and she succeeded in slowing his charge.

Morrigan pointed her staff and unleashed a cone of freezing cold that hindered the templar even more, although he was still trying to attack them. Harry had hoped that killing the demon might have broken the enchantment, but apparently he was not that lucky. He waved his wand and the statue delivered a killing blow.

"It's a shame that he was too far gone to save," Wynne said.

Morrigan snorted. "Apparently you can get your desire and still suffer horribly. 'Tis truly a lesson for all who consider marriage."

"Now, wait just a second," Harry interjected. "That's just some of Flemeth's garbage you're spouting. I know you've never been married. In fact, I'm probably the only one here who ever has been. You shouldn't be so quick to judge something that you have no experience of. In my case, marriage was wonderful, and I wouldn't have traded a day of it for anything in the world."

"Didn't you also say that you had two wives?" Morrigan scoffed.

"Yes, and they were two of the most amazing people I've ever known," Harry replied.

"Alright, let's get back to work," Sirius interrupted. "The two of you can argue among yourselves later. We still need to clear this floor and get to the top of this tower."

"Fine," Morrigan said, turning away and heading back out into the hallway.

"She seems to be a most disagreeable sort," Wynne added.

"That's one way of putting it," Leliana nodded.

Sirius chuckled. "Harry's not the type to back down from a challenge."

"I've had plenty of experience in dealing with argumentative women," Harry shrugged. "And I sympathize with her, so I'm hopeful that things will get better."

He stopped himself from mentioning how Morrigan had been raised- Flemeth was incredibly cynical and cold hearted, not to mention incredibly powerful and manipulative. Harry didn't want to go broadcasting those sorts of things, especially not to people that Morrigan didn't like or trust. Besides, he really did sympathize with her- his own childhood had been miserable, and in his teen years he'd had to deal with an incredibly powerful yet manipulative mentor figure of his own.

That brought up all sorts of thoughts and memories that he didn't have the time for- not when his group was in enemy territory and getting ever closer to whatever demons and dark wizards that were behind the nightmare they'd been wading through for the last few hours.

They regrouped in the hall and eventually found their way to a large door leading into the center of the Tower. Pushing their way inside, they came across a tall creature that looked like one of the abominations that had been twisted into an even more disgusting parody of a human being. Its flesh appeared to have been torn and melted then reshaped into something out of a nightmare- skin was stretched over bones that wrapped around its face, covering the mouth and leaving only one blood red eye to glare at them.

"Oh, look. Visitors," it drawled out in a tired voice. "I'd entertain you, but... too much effort would be involved."

"That is one ugly bugger," Sirius muttered.

"You must all be so weary after such a long journey up this Tower," the demon said. Harry felt some strange form of magic emanating from the creature as it continued to speak. "Wouldn't you like to just... _lay down_ and forget about all this? Leave it all behind? Take a chance to... _rest_."

"I'll not listen to your lies, demon," Leliana replied, even as she swayed on her feet. "You have no... power over me..."

"I could use a nap," Sirius yawned as he struggled to keep standing. "Now that you mention it."

"Resist. You must resist, else we are all lost," Wynne said, although she too fell to her knees.

Harry turned to look at his companions, his own muscles feeling sluggish, and he saw that they were all in the process of succumbing to some sort of powerful sleep enchantment.

"This is ridiculous. You cannot expect me to rest on a floor sticky with blood," Morrigan scoffed. Harry rushed over to catch her as she stumbled, but her eyes were now closed. He could feel whatever sort of magic this creature was using pressing against his mind, and only the Occlumency he had learned so long ago from Daphne kept him from joining the others in the cursed slumber.

"Why do you fight?" the demon asked. "You deserve a _rest_. The world will go on without you."

"Dammit," Harry hissed as the creature continued its assault. What felt like a tsunami slammed up against his consciousness. But Harry always had been one truly stubborn bastard- he narrowed his eyes and raised up his left hand in defiance. "Go back to hell, you fucking monster.

" _Confringo!_ "

As his spell struck true and an explosion of gore rained down upon him, Harry's head throbbed in pain and his eyes reluctantly closed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: I've had a couple of people question the witch trials of the Harry Potter world, but when Harry talks about seeing people trying to burn a young witch at the stake, he's not talking about things that happened in medieval times. He's had first hand experience at seeing all sorts of awful things happen after the fall of the statue of secrecy as well as World War 3. Earth was a nightmare by the time he walked through the veil. Figured I should make that clear now.
> 
> I think the writer's block is behind me as I've started work on the next chapter already, so hopefully I'll be more productive. Assuming I can wrap myself up in a blanket when I sit down at the keyboard anyway (it's unusually cold & icy where I live). Hope you're all staying safe & healthy. Till next time!


	9. Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This

* * *

"You need to wake up, my love."

Harry knew that voice. A smile lit up his face even before he opened his eyes.

"Enough of that now," she chided him.

He could see the smirk on her face in his mind... and he had missed it _so much_.

"Daph-"

"Get up, Harry, we don't have a lot of time."

He opened his eyes and forced himself to his feet. If he could stop staring at the blonde in front of him, he might have noticed the hazy green tint to the air, or the fact that they were standing on some twisted chunk of land that was floating. But the strange qualities of the Fade didn't matter nearly as much to Harry as the vision of his long lost love.

Before he even knew what he was doing, his arms were wrapped around her and his face was nuzzled in her hair, trying to drink in the slightly flowery scent... or what he remembered of it anyway.

"I know, Harry. I know," she soothingly cooed into his ear as sobs wracked his body. "But you can't dwell on this. You know this isn't real."

"It's real enough for me," he moaned. "Please-"

"No." She pulled back out of his embrace and forced him to let go of her. "I will not let you fall into that abyss again. You are a better man than that. Don't you remember what happened in 2085?"

"You know I can't," Harry snorted as he wiped at his eyes.

"The memories might all be a fuzzy mess, but you do know what happened," Daphne replied. "I counted all of the illicit substances you tried. I saw every night that you tried to drown yourself in a bottle or swallowed every pill you could get your hands on. Not again, Harry."

"I know," he sighed.

"Good," she nodded before giving him a smile. "Now, conjure us a couple of chairs. We need to have a little chat before you go back."

"How about a love seat?" he countered with a grin.

"Right now, your actual body has pieces of a demonically possessed mage strewn across it and a splash of sticky nearly-black blood pooling around your feet. If we take too long, it will spill further towards you and you'll feel like you've pissed yourself. No dream world hanky panky while something that gross is going on."

"Fine." He did as she asked and they took their seats.

"Besides," Daphne's face lit up with that teasing smirk he loved so very much. "I know that if I want you to actually pay attention, I'm going to need you looking me in the eye."

"Alright, I'm listening."

"Good." She reached out and took his hand. "You're doing well so far. There are things you will have to learn, things you will have to overcome, but I am very pleased that you have found people to be with again. It had been far too long that you had been alone."

"I know," he agreed.

"Let people in," Daphne added. "Let _her_ in."

"Morrigan? I'm trying to."

"Try harder." Daphne squeezed his hand. "I know it won't be easy. The poor thing is like a combination of all the terrible baggage you and I both had when we were young. But we turned out alright, didn't we?"

Her smile dazzled him and made Harry nod. "We did. And I will."

"Good. The road won't be easy, but her path is likely to be intertwined with yours."

"Oh come on, not that fate crap again," Harry groaned.

Daphne held up a hand to stop him. "I'm not talking about destiny or anything of that sort. Morrigan has the potential for magical greatness- you must realize that Flemeth chose her for a reason, yes? When you come across a powerful witch, to ignore her would be foolish. Especially when you can help her to grow-"

"That's what I'm trying to do," Harry interjected.

"I know," Daphne smiled. "I'm proud of you for it too. Just don't give up."

"You know I'm too stubborn for that," Harry chuckled.

"Yes I do," Daphne replied. "Now, you need to know a couple of things before you wake up. First off, do not be afraid to let anger power your spells. The Dark Arts are powerful for a reason, and sometimes _people fucking deserve it_."

She had growled out that last bit and Harry knew why. They had seen way too much evil over the last few years of her life, those years when it had been just the two of them. Humanity was far too good at destroying itself, and the years of war and death had taught him that lesson again and again.

"I assume you're saying that for a reason," he raised an eyebrow.

"I have a feeling that you're going to run into someone that will make you want to cast an Unforgivable or two pretty soon," Daphne said. "Maybe several people over the course of trying to keep Fereldan from falling apart, actually, and I don't want you to get all broody and guilty about it. There are far worse ways to die than the killing curse."

"True," he nodded.

"Good." Daphne stood up. "You're going to have another chance, Harry, and I want you to grab onto it."

"Another chance?"

"Love," she smiled as he stepped close to her. "A family. Children. All that you ever wanted. Everything you had."

"Everything I lost," Harry whispered.

"You can have it again." Daphne leaned in and he couldn't wait to close the distance and kiss her. He hoped that his memories weren't playing tricks on him, but he would swear that she tasted like that lip gloss she used to wear. A moment later, she pulled back, chuckling. "I want you to find that happiness again, Harry."

"With Morrigan?"

"Perhaps," she shrugged. "It doesn't matter to me as much about who it may end up being, as long as you're happy. You deserve it."

Harry sagged in spite of her words. "Do I?"

Daphne snorted. "Don't be stupid, Harry. When I tell you something, you're supposed to take it as the undeniable truth."

"Right, I forgot," he sighed.

"Don't do it again," she scolded him.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good boy," she teased. "Ready to wake up?"

"If I must."

"Want the hard way or the easy way?"

"Which one's quicker?" Harry asked.

"I love you, Harry," Daphne answered. And before he saw it coming, she slapped him.

* * *

"Ow," he muttered as his eyes fluttered open. Looking down, he saw the filth from the demonic thing he'd killed that had splattered all around him. Daphne was right, as usual. He scooted back and climbed to his feet, vanishing the mess and then began rubbing his jaw. "God, I miss that woman."

Harry looked around the room and saw that all of his companions were unconscious. The stone statue had gone completely still, his charm likely failing when he had been knocked out as well. There was also another man in the room, behind where the abomination had been standing, and he too appeared to be asleep on the floor.

"Where to start?" he wondered to himself aloud as he surveyed things. "Defense first."

Wand in hand, he closed and locked the doorway they had come through as well as the one leading onward. A quick bit of transfiguration sealed them up even tighter. Feeling more confident, Harry walked back over to Morrigan and tried to awaken her with a spell.

Simplicity was not on his side though.

"If they fell into some sort of dream world like I did..." he leaned down over Morrigan and peeled back her eyelids, noting the rapid eye movement. "Then they may be stuck there if they don't have anyone to help get them out. Dammit. I hope this works.

"Here goes nothing- _Legilimens!_ "

* * *

Once again, Harry found himself standing on a surreal chunk of land floating in the hazy green world of the Fade. He looked around and saw Morrigan standing just on the other side of a twisted, withered tree. Standing next to her, was Flemeth- or at least, a spirit trying to impersonate Flemeth.

Harry hoped that the ancient witch couldn't infect someone else's dreams like that, anyway. Or that she wouldn't be bothered to when they were in the middle of an adventure that she had personally sent Morrigan off to participate in.

"Away! Away with you! I shall have no more of your pestering," Morrigan disdainfully waved off the dream Flemeth.

"I am your mother... do you not love me?"

Yeah, definitely not the real Flemeth, Harry thought with a snort.

"You are as much my mother as my little finger here is the queen of Fereldan," Morrigan replied. "I know you fade spirit, and you cannot fool me."

"Are you more clever than your own dear mother?" the false Flemeth asked. "Surely such pride must be punished."

She slapped Morrigan and Harry drew his wand... at least it looked like his wand. He supposed it was really just a manifestation of his magic, trying to focus in the spirit world. Shaking off his confusion, Harry saw Morrigan step forward and sneer. "That is far more like the real Flemeth, but it is also too little, too late, spirit."

Morrigan noticed Harry walking towards her and turned to greet him with a nod. "'Tis you at last. Come and help rid me of this vexatious spirit. I am weary of being prodded. It cannot even read my mind well enough to form a decent copy, and yet still it prattles on."

"It would be my pleasure to be of assistance," Harry threw a wink at her and turned on the spirit. "I would suggest you leave now while you still can."

"She doesn't even acknowledge her own mother," the spirit complained. "My heart, it breaks!"

"Oh slay it, and quickly," Morrigan scoffed. "Even the true Flemeth was never as annoying as this."

"As you wish, my dear," Harry nodded. " _Incendio!_ "

The supposed Flemeth began to shriek before dissolving from sight. He chuckled and turned back to Morrigan. "At least the spirit was committed to playing the part, I suppose. Hopefully, you'll wake up now."

"Then I shall see you-"

* * *

"-back in the real world." Morrigan felt her eyes fluttering open before she realized that she was out of the Fade. Harry was leaning over her, staring at her. Very, _very_ close to her. At least this time he didn't smell quite so distractingly pleasant. She shook the thought away. "How did you do that?"

"The spell I use to peer into someone's mind," Harry answered as he stood back up and helped her to her feet. "Apparently, it can even follow a dreamer down into the Fade. I'm just glad that we both were able to return so easily. Getting stuck inside your head while monsters were bearing down on us would have been... troublesome."

"Indeed," she said, looking around at the room. "I see that you barred the doors at least."

"Seemed like a good idea," he shrugged. "Will you watch over things while I try to wake the others?"

"I will," Morrigan agreed. "Will you need any help?"

"I hope not." Harry scratched his chin. "I'm not exactly sure how long that took. If I'm still inside one of them and something happens, you'll have to wake me."

"How?"

"Good question," Harry murmured. "Probably try pulling me away from them. If I lose eye contact, it should cancel the spell, hopefully. If not, try something more physical."

"You're giving me permission to slap you?" Morrigan asked with a smirk.

"It wouldn't be the first time today," Harry chuckled to himself before kneeling over Sirius. "Hopefully, I'll be right back."

"Good luck."

He nodded. " _Legilimens!_ "

* * *

Harry was getting used to the Fade by now, although it still bothered him how small the chunks of land were. He knew that he'd had plenty of dreams that took place in much larger areas, but maybe it was all supposed to be illusionary. With this being the land of spirits, perhaps things were even that much less tangible than he had thought.

Whatever the case may be, he saw his godfather sitting on a chair in what looked to be some cozy living room. Of course, a couple of the walls were missing, but the couch and table were clearly meant for people to gather around. It took Harry a moment to realize exactly what living room it was- but then, he hadn't been back to Godric's Hollow in decades.

James Potter was sitting on the couch, and Lily Potter came slowly walking down the stairs carrying a baby. "He's had a nap, so now he'll have plenty of energy for you, Padfoot."

"Padfoo'," the baby Harry giggled.

"He's getting so big!" Sirius chuckled as Lily carefully handed over his godson. "Before you know it, he'll be chasing all the little girls around."

"Don't be a bad influence on my boy, Sirius," Lily scolded him.

"Nonsense," he smiled. "I'll be a good influence on him. That's why the witches will be flocking to him. You don't think Prongs could teach him that sort of thing, do you?"

"I don't see you with a witch in your arms," James teased as Lily leaned against him.

"Yeah, well it's not the best time for it, eh?" Sirius sighed as Harry reached up and poked at his chin.

"Things must be really bad if they're interfering with the love life of Sirius Black," Lily laughed. "Either that, or it's just another excuse."

"I can always pop over to London. Muggle night clubs are just full of women needing a little Sirius loving."

"Merlin, Padfoot! That was terrible," James groaned.

Forcing himself to interrupt, Harry walked into the middle of the living room and stood just on the other side of the table from his enchanted godfather. "I'm sorry to interrupt all this, but I need you back in the real world, Sirius."

"Harry?" Sirius looked between the baby in his arms and the man staring at him. He shook his head and stood up. "What the hell is going on?"

"You're experiencing some sort of delusion," Harry replied. "Apparently it was caused by that last demonic thing we came across in the Circle Tower. Remember, we were trying to secure the aid of the mages? The darkspawn were causing a Blight, trying to destroy the world and all that."

"That does ring a bell," Sirius agreed. "So this is...?"

"Spirits trying to keep you distracted," Harry shrugged. "At least yours are a lot more pleasant than Morrigan's was."

"You went after the girl first?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Good man, Harry!" Sirius laughed.

"You don't want to stay with us?" Lily Potter interrupted.

"Yeah, come on Padfoot," James added. "You just got here."

"I would if I could," Sirius sighed. He walked over and handed the baby Harry back to his mother. "But your little guy doesn't need me the way the big one does. I've got another chance to keep an eye on him, and I'm going to do a better job of it this time."

"But we miss you, Sirius," Lily argued. "We're stuck in this cottage all day long-"

"Please stop, spirit," Harry interjected. "You may be using the form of my mum, but I will destroy you if I have to." He pointed his wand at her. "For your sake, don't make me do it."

"You can go, Master of Death," the fake James Potter replied as it shifted into a blurry, somewhat gaseous form. "Unlike some of my brethren, I know when I am outmatched. It would take a truly gifted mortal to stand up to a being like Sloth. But then, we both know you're no longer mortal, don't we?"

"You should have enjoyed your time with us, Harry," the spirit Lily said with a sad smile. "It is closer than any other chance you've had."

"The real Lily would understand why I won't," he answered.

"Let's get out of here then." Sirius put a hand on his shoulder. "How do we do that, exactly?"

"Farewell dreamers," the spirits said as they faded away.

"Well, last time, I had to destroy the one that was keeping Morrigan busy, so..."

* * *

"Ah, that was much easier," Harry finished as he found himself back in his actual body.

Sirius began rubbing his back as he struggled to sit up. "I apparently didn't land as softly as you did."

"Back are you?"

The two of them looked over at Morrigan who was peering down at them. Unsurprisingly, Sirius glanced at her cleavage before moving up to her face. "If I didn't say it before, you made a good choice Harry."

Harry just snorted and pulled his godfather back to his feet. "Come on, mutt. Time enough for that later."

"For a bit of good news, 'twas only a few moments that you were gone," Morrigan said. "Hopefully the others will be just as quick."

"That is good news," Harry agreed as he stepped over towards Leliana before turning back to Sirius. "Did you ever learn legilimency?"

"No, I didn't have the patience for it," he replied. "Or the finesse, maybe."

"Alright, then I'll be back soon." Harry knelt down over Leliana and peeled back her eyelids. " _Legilimens!_ "

The other two watched as he stared into the redhead's eyes. Disliking the silence, Sirius cracked first. "That is bloody creepy to see him just frozen in place like that."

"I saw the same thing when he performed the spell on you," Morrigan shrugged. "If anything, 'tis an interesting magical concept, to delve into another's dreams. One wonders what secrets could be discovered under the right circumstances."

"That is what the spell is typically used for, although not necessarily tied to dreams. I never liked the concept myself. A person's mind should be private." He turned to smirk at Morrigan. "Unless you'd like to see the types of naughty fun someone gets up to."

"Naughty?" Morrigan asked with a scowl.

"It's the naughty nun stereotype," Sirius chuckled. "I just can't stop thinking about it. I'd blame Lily, but I was sneaking off into the muggle world long before we became friends."

"You'll have to explain what a naughty nun is."

"I guess they don't call them that here, huh?" Sirius shrugged. "I'll have to try to get used to that. What did she call herself? Sister Leliana? I guess that's close enough to back home. But come on, look at her. I mean, just get a load of that lithe, sexy body. I never knew I'd think archery was so hot, but when she puts arrows through these monsters' eyes, I am more than just impressed. I really hope she packed up those robes and brought them along."

"For one thing, I am not attracted to women," Morrigan rolled her eyes. "But even if I were, I would not be interested in someone foolish enough to believe in the Chantry's drivel. 'Tis the sort of thing meant for simpletons. I have no need for such nonsense."

"That's alright," Sirius grinned. "I'd hate to try to come between two sexy ladies anyway. Besides, I don't need the competition."

"I suppose that could keep the two of you distracted and, therefore, out of my hair."

Sirius barked out a laugh. "Yeah, and it will also give you plenty of time to spend with Harry."

Morrigan's mouth snapped shut, and she did her best to keep her thoughts to herself.

Sirius grinned but let her be- too much teasing could hurt Harry's progress, and he was determined to be a better wingman than that. He'd been there when one generation of Potters had gotten together, yet he'd heard only fragments about Harry's first girlfriend, and much of it second hand; this time, he was going to watch, cheer on, and hopefully congratulate him whenever Harry might succeed at winning over the prickly witch.

Plus, it was simpler this way- it could be a pain when two friends were interested in the same girl.

* * *

Once again in the Fade, Harry found himself spotting an older woman wearing the robes of a priestess with that starburst pattern of the Chantry who was standing over a kneeling Leliana, hands clasped, eyes closed, and head bowed as she prayed. "Blessed art thou who exists in the sight of the Maker. Blessed art thou who seeks His forgiveness. Blessed-"

"Sorry to interrupt," Harry smiled, not really sorry at all. "But Sirius and I could really use your help back in the real world."

"What?" Leliana looked around in confusion. "Who are you? Why does that name sound familiar?"

"I beg you, do not disturb the girl's meditation," the faux priestess said.

"Revered mother, I do not know this person."

"Please do not vex her," the spirit continued. "She needs quiet and solitude to calm her mind and heal her heart."

"If that were true, she would have stayed back in Lothering instead of getting involved in my quest," Harry argued. "She sought my group out; so you, spirit, are keeping her from her purpose. While I don't share her beliefs, I know that Leliana would not want to cower here with you when people are in danger. She's more idealistic than that. Why don't you let her be before I'm forced to do something more drastic?"

"I remember... there was a sign," Leliana said in a daze.

"Leliana, we have discussed this sign of yours," the spirit disguised as a Revered Mother replied. "The Maker does not care to interfere in the lives of mortals. Whatever this vision was, it was likely the work of demons."

"Okay, getting bored now," Harry sighed, drawing his wand. "Last chance- leave the girl alone, demon."

The sight of a spark starting to form at the end of his wand was enough to get his point across. "Your time will come, outsider. You do not belong here."

Despite the resentful words, the spirit faded away.

"She wasn't real," Leliana muttered. "I remember the real Dorothea, and she nurtured my hope. She would not have tried to force me to change my mind like that."

"We're in the Fade," Harry shrugged. "If you can't tell. Does it look all green and hazy to you?"

"No, things... everything looks normal enough," Leliana answered. "We're dreaming?"

"Of a sort," Harry nodded. "It was some type of enchanted sleep caused by the last abomination we came across. We were climbing the Circle Tower to try to help the mages. Does that ring any bells?"

"It's starting to, yes." Leliana looked around again and Harry was beginning to consider what else he might need to do when she disappeared.

* * *

"Are you alright?" Sirius asked as the sexy redhead walked over to them while Harry went to work on the elder witch.

"I believe so," Leliana replied with a small frown. "It was a strange thing; a spirit tried to make me doubt myself and the path we're on. I am glad that Harry came when he did."

"He's a good lad," Sirius said. "The spirits in my mind were trying to distract me as well, showing me visions of the past. Back when my life was simpler, or at least part of it was. Strange as it may seem, I'm not sure if things were more dangerous then or now. I've been stuck in a war in both cases."

"A war?" she asked.

"When Harry was born, there was a very evil wizard who was hell bent on taking over the world," Sirius explained. "He gathered a bunch of idiots around him and basically caused a civil war in our country. They were really no more than crazed, blood thirsty terrorists, but they did a lot of damage. It didn't help anything that some of them were from my own family."

"And what happened?"

"The evil wizard tried to kill Harry when he was a baby. He failed, somehow, and most of his followers fled or lied or bribed their way free," Sirius scoffed. "Of course, then I got framed and sent to Azkaban by the damn traitor that sold Harry's parents out to the madman and caused their deaths. Fucking Wormtail. I hope he suffered before he died." Sirius shook his head ruefully and turned back to Leliana. "Anyway, it was no real shock when the evil wizard came back and all the same old followers lined up to cause problems again. That was the war that was going on before I got here. There was a battle that Harry and some of his friends were in; I went to help and got knocked through this strange veiled archway. Then I found myself lying in the middle of a swamp and on another world. Not the strangest way I've woken up, either."

Leliana giggled at his last remark. "Perhaps you should tell me the tales that were even stranger."

"Well, they might have often involved drinking too much," Sirius grinned.

"I may have done that a time or two as well," Leliana smiled in return.

* * *

Harry found Wynne standing in the middle of a circle of bodies, all apparently slain mages judging by the robes they wore. "Maker forgive me. I failed them all. They died and I did not stop it."

"Hmm, visual trickery instead this time," he said as he walked towards them. Harry scratched his chin. "I wonder... _Finite!_ "

The 'bodies' all disappeared.

"What...?" Wynne stared at him. "What did you do?"

"This is nothing more than a dream," Harry answered. "Nap time is over; we've got a Tower to finish clearing out."

"The Tower," Wynne muttered before her lips drew tight. "I should not have fallen prey to this. Help me wake up. You're right; we do have work to do."

"That's the spirit!" Harry chuckled. "Try to focus on..."

But she faded away too before he could finish his thought.

* * *

"Help me up please, young man," Wynne said as she noticed Harry leaning over her.

He chuckled in response, but held out his hand. "Of course."

Once she was standing, Wynne motioned over to the final man laying on the floor. "That is Niall, the one Owain mentioned that had taken the Litany of Adralla and was going to try to put a stop to all this chaos. Can you return him to his body as well?"

"I can try."

"Do so, please."

Harry nodded and went to check on the other mage. Unfortunately, when he got close, he noticed something off about the body. There was an intangible yet unforgettable shroud of death hanging about it. Shuddering briefly, Harry shoved down the thoughts of previous times when he had seen and felt that terrible miasma in the past. Checking for a pulse, and Harry found that it was there but faint. "I don't think it will work."

"Why not?" Leliana asked. "Is the process not the same?"

"I think he's been stuck in the Fade too long," Harry replied as the others all came to gather around him. "I'm willing to give it a shot, but don't be surprised if this one can't come back the way we did. Sirius, be prepared to zap me with a spell to awaken me if anything goes wrong."

"Alright."

"So, I suppose I won't be slapping you today then?" Morrigan smirked. "A pity."

Harry grinned back at her. "You never know- the day isn't over yet."

"Be careful, alright?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah, I know," Harry nodded. " _Legilimens!_ "

"I hope he's wrong," Wynne said as they waited. "Niall was a fine young mage and it would be a shame to lose yet another to all this madness."

"Maybe you should check to see if he had that-" Sirius stopped and scratched behind his ear. "A litany or something?"

"The Litany of Adralla," Wynne finished, pointing to a scroll laying next to Niall's body. "It looks like he may have been trying to use it to protect himself."

A moment later, Harry stirred and pulled back from Niall, then slid down his eyelids. "He was too far gone. I'm sorry, Wynne."

She sighed and picked up the scroll. "At least we now have the Litany. I will keep it in hand. If we come across another powerful demon or any other mages, I shall recite it. Hopefully, that will be enough for us to overcome any further attempts to enthrall our minds."

"We've got a plan then," Sirius said as he offered a hand and pulled Harry to his feet. "Let's get moving again."

Harry nodded and began to undo the transfigurations he had done to solidify both of the room's doorways.

* * *

There were a few more monsters they ran across as they traversed the fourth floor, as well as a group of blood mages who were yelling at each other. When they broke out into a fight amongst themselves, it was easy for Harry's group to finish the rest of them. Thankfully, none of it slowed down their group too much. However, as they reached the stairway leading up to the Harrowing chamber, they came across a templar surrounded by some sort of purple barrier made of magic.

"This... this trick again?" the templar asked, clearly delirious. "It won't work. You can't... I will stay strong."

"I wonder why they've kept him trapped like that," Harry mused. "If all this is the work of blood mages, you would think that they wouldn't have any need to keep a templar alive."

"Perhaps they wish to perform some experiments on him," Morrigan suggested. "Templars are known for their resistance to magic. 'Tis possible overcoming that defense would be-"

"Blood mages are not known for their sanity," Wynne interrupted with a scoff. "If anything, they would more likely being toying with this young man- Cullen, I believe his name is. Cullen, can you hear me?"

"I will not fall for your lies, demons!"

"It doesn't look like we'll be getting through to him any time soon," Sirius said. "Maybe we should just move on?"

"As long as he isn't any danger to us, I agree," Wynne added. "Defeating whoever has cast the spell trapping him here should hopefully free him as well."

"Hopefully he won't try anything once he is free," Harry replied. "We don't need a mad templar trying to kill us on the way back down."

"You have to kill them all!" the templar cried out. "All of the blood mages! Wipe them out, or we'll all die!"

"He's out of his mind," Sirius said. "Maybe we should try to knock him out, just in case."

"I'm not familiar with this type of magical barrier," Wynne said.

"Nor am I," Harry added. He tried dispelling it with the spells he knew from his original world, but there was no effect. Shaking his head, Harry turned back to the others. "I don't think we should risk trying to cast any spells through whatever this is. We'll just have to be prepared to deal with him when we come back."

"Fair enough," Sirius nodded.

A terrible scream came from the top floor.

Harry turned back to Wynne. "Be ready with the Litany. It's time to put an end to this."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: That's right, I skipped almost all of the Fade! Yay for fanfiction!
> 
> But seriously, I actually enjoyed that section of the game the first time I played it, although admittedly the backtracking got way out of hand, especially when trying to track down all the ability boosts.
> 
> The characters stuck in the various visions was the most interesting part anyway, in my humble opinion.
> 
> So, I realized that I left out an important detail in the last chapter that I have since corrected, which my readers unfamiliar with Dragon Age would need to be made aware of- the Chantry's branding of the Tranquil. When a mage's connection to the Fade is severed and their magical abilities are lost, they literally brand the Chantry's symbol right in the middle of the mage's forehead. It's pretty fucking nightmarish really- not only do they lose their magic, but also much of their personalities and emotions via a pseudo-lobotamy, and then they get a nice permanent reminder marking the fact that they are no longer fully human. That's not even taking into account some of the horrors we see in the second game where a female mage has this done to her just because a templar wants to make her into his sex slave- and then she no longer even knows why she should try to resist him.
> 
> Needless to say, if I ever get to the second game, Harry will not stand for heinous shit like that.
> 
> While Bioware sometimes tries to do a bit of a 'both sides have valid points' thing with the conflict between the mages and templars, there's a damn good reason the vast majority of the fan base tends to side with the mages when given a chance.
> 
> Also, I've closed the poll about the mage origin characters. I'm a little surprised that Amell didn't get more love. But you'll see the beginning of that little plot thread in the next chapter, which I'm currently working on.
> 
> Anyway, this chapter would have likely been finished sooner if there weren't record breaking cold, snow, and ice making me shiver even while staying indoors for most of the last two weeks. Intermittent water and power problems aren't fun either. Hope you're all staying safe out there!


End file.
